Alaska Business August 2020

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CONTENTS AUGUST 2020 | VOLUME 37 | NUMBER 8 | AKBIZMAG.COM

FE AT UR E S 68 TRANSPORTATION The Advantages of Aviation

Aerial assets assist resource development projects

Regal North Commercial

By Vanessa Orr

14 REAL ESTATE

Minimizing Risk, Maximizing Revenue The past, present, and future of property management

By Vanessa Orr

10 E DUCATION

Problem Solving 101 UA: financial concerns, COVID-19, and new leadership

By Tracy Barbour

20 ENVIRONMENTAL A Breath of Fresh Air

Keeping workplace air quality in tip top shape

By Bailey Berg

62 CONSTRUCTION Piece by Piece

Thinking outside the box with modular building

By Isaac Stone Simonelli

76 OIL & GAS Fire suppression systems protect oil and gas operations from going up in flames

By Isaac Stone Simonelli

Rotak

Keeping It Cool

Alaska Business (ISSN 8756-4092) is published monthly by Alaska Business Publishing Co., Inc. 501 W. Northern Lights Boulevard, Suite 100, Anchorage, Alaska 99503-2577; Telephone: (907) 276-4373. Š 2020 Alaska Business Publishing Co. All rights reserved. No part of this publication May be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. Alaska Business accepts no responsibility for unsolicited materials; they will not be returned unless accompanied by a stamped, self addressed envelope. One-year subscription is $39.95 and includes twelve issues (print + digital) and the annual Power List. Single issues of the Power List are $15 each. Single issues of Alaska Business are $4.99 each; $5.99 for the July & December issues. Send subscription orders and address changes to circulation@akbizmag.com.

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4 | August 2020

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CONTENTS AUGUST 2020 | VOLUME 37 | NUMBER 8 | AKBIZMAG.COM

Alaska Airlines

INDUSTRIAL SUPPORT SERVICES SPECIAL SEC TION

38 FROM SEA TO SALE

Alaska’s seafood supply chain depends on processing, freezers, and logistics

By Sam Friedman

32 MADE FOR THE NORTH

Alaska’s support industry provides the right tools for the job

By Danny Kreilkamp

26 THE A(SSOCIATION) TEAM Advocacy, education, and training support and build Alaska’s industries

By Tasha Anderson

44 WHAT’S COOKIN’ AT THE CAMPS? How remote workers ‘fuel up’ while on site

By Amy Newman

50 INDUSTRIAL SUPPORT SERVICES DIRECTORY

ABOUT THE COVER When the Alaska Business editorial team discussed who would best represent the Alaska support services industry, we immediately landed on Rebecca Logan, CEO of The Alaska Support Industry Alliance. Her hard work and passion for promoting Alaska’s support service companies is exactly in step with our desire to highlight those companies in our brand new Industrial Support Services special section.

Through her position at The Alliance, Logan spends her time organizing and presenting information to the Alaska business community through the AK Headlamp; working with individual Alliance members on marketing ideas; and advocating for these companies and the industries they serve. While she always has a view of the big picture, each and every company that contributes to the economy in the Last Frontier is important: “One of my favorite members is a small clothing company down in Kenai who provides product to everybody in Kenai, but also specifically provides clothing products to companies like Hilcorp,” she says.

Cover by Monica Sterchi-Lowman • Photography by Jeremy Cubas

QUICK READS 8 FROM THE EDITOR

82 INSIDE ALASKA BUSINESS

86 ALASKA TRENDS

82 ECONOMIC INDICATORS

84 RIGHT MOVES

88 OFF THE CUFF

6 | August 2020

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

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FROM THE EDITOR

Supporting Industry W

hen RavnAir Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April it caused a ripple effect of uncertainty and anxiety that started with the company’s 1,300 employees and extended to thousands of the state’s rural residents. And understandably so—a global pandemic was already threatening rural villages’ food security, and the airline was responsible for transporting everything from groceries and home supplies to mail, freight, and people to villages and towns all over Alaska.

So when RavnAir grounded its entire fleet and ceased operations, many were left wondering... what’s next?

COVID-19 was just beginning to wreak havoc on the economy—and the aviation industry was suffering more than most. But it wasn’t long before Alaska’s support system kicked into gear and Grant Aviation and Alaska Air Cargo stepped in to fill some of the service gaps created by RavnAir’s departure.

English author John Donne first said in the seventeenthcentury, “No man is an island.” And the saying remains as true today as it (apparently) was then. Rural Alaskans need their deliveries and Alaska companies stepped in to make sure they get them.

While it’s true that no man is an island, it’s also true that no industry is an island. No matter the industry, there are hundreds of support services companies operating, often in the background, to make sure workers are fed, tools and equipment are delivered, and buildings are constructed.

With this in mind we’re proudly launching the Industrial Support Services special section and directory to place a spotlight on the organizations that help keep the state’s industries running smoothly. Alaska’s network of support services companies is nearly as vast as the state itself, encompassing an extensive and varied collection of companies.

But what they have in common is what we admire most: a drive to make Alaska better. It’s not always an obvious choice to operate in Alaska, and those companies that accept the challenges of the Last Frontier and overcome them season after season are an inspiration. What seems impossible today will be conquered tomorrow, and we’re excited to show you how these companies are doing it.

VOLUME 37, #8 EDITORIAL STAFF Managing Editor Kathryn Mackenzie 257-2907 editor@akbizmag.com

Associate/Web Editor Tasha Anderson 257-2902 tanderson@akbizmag.com

Digital and Social Media Specialist Arie Henry 257-2910 ahenry@akbizmag.com

Staff Writer Danny Kreilkamp danny@akbizmag.com

Art Director Monica Sterchi-Lowman 257-2916 design@akbizmag.com

Art Production Linda Shogren 257-2912 production@akbizmag.com

Photo Contributor Kerry Tasker

BUSINESS STAFF President Billie Martin VP & General Manager Jason Martin 257-2905 jason@akbizmag.com

VP Sales & Marketing Charles Bell 257-2909 cbell@akbizmag.com

Senior Account Manager Janis J. Plume 257-2917 janis@akbizmag.com

Advertising Account Manager Christine Merki 257-2911 cmerki@akbizmag.com

Accounting Manager Ana Lavagnino 257-2901 accounts@akbizmag.com

Customer Service Representative Emily Olsen 257-2914 emily@akbizmag.com

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Kathryn Mackenzie Managing Editor, Alaska Business 8 | August 2020

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Problem Solving 101 UA: financial concerns, COVID-19, and new leadership

By Tracy Barbour

T

he University of Alaska (UA) is in the midst of tumultuous times marked by leadership changes, state funding cuts, enrollment declines, and rising costs—not to mention the COVID-19 pandemic, which exacerbated the system’s existing financial problems.

UA’s board of regents has been faced with some tough decisions, including accepting the resignation of UA President Jim Johnsen in June. “The decision regarding a change in leadership was mutual and was made after considerable reflection,” said Board Chair Sheri Buretta in a press release. In mid-July, UA named Pat Pitney as the system's interim president.

Pitney previously worked with UA for 23 years before leaving to serve as the state budget director during then-Governor Bill Walker's administration. She will lead the university system for the next year or until the board appoints a new president.

However challenging these many recent developments have been for the UA System, it tackles them as they arise with an eye toward the future.

The Impact of COVID-19 UA’s budget has been plagued by state funding cuts since 2015, enrollment declines since 2011 (which has meant less tuition revenue), and cost increases for utilities, deferred facility maintenance, and debt.

The COVID-19 outbreak has also had a substantial—and perhaps indelible—impact on the system. According to thenUA President Jim Johnsen, the pandemic imposed some unexpected costs in the current fiscal year, costs that were not all paid for with federal or state funds. It also added an element of uncertainty for the budget, as more costs are likely to be incurred next year.

COVID-19 prompted UA to make an immediate shift in its operations, pushing its workforce, faculty, staff, and students mostly off campus to wrap up the spring semester. For the sake of physical distancing and safety, UA had to rethink the delivery of its education programs and transform many in-person classes into online courses.

Safety is a key consideration at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), which has an enrollment of about 16,500 students. That’s why UAA Chancellor Cathy Sandeen decided in early March to convert to the remote delivery of courses to minimize person-to-person contact. This meant that many faculty had to pivot quickly. And so did the students. “Everybody at UAA had to adjust rapidly,” Sandeen says. “I’m happy to say that they did.”

Although many UAA students prefer face-to-face courses, most were willing to switch to remove learning, as evidenced by the fact that the university's withdrawal rate for spring of 2020 was down just slightly from the year before, Sandeen says.

Not only did students elect to stick with the university through the operational shift, but fall enrollment did not take a major hit. National enrollments are down 20 percent—as some students are taking a gap year—but UAA is faring slightly better.

“We’re just about 15 percent down now, and we’re working really hard to remind students that the best defense against a hard economy is to have that degree in hand,” Sandeen says.

“Our message to them is: ‘Don’t delay, we’re here for you. You can keep your progress going.’ I think our students are really responding to that.”

Students were also responsive to an extensive survey that was

Monique Musick

E D U C AT I O N

“We’re working really hard to remind students that the best defense against a hard economy is to have that degree in hand. Our message to them is: ‘Don’t delay, we’re here for you. You can keep your progress going.’”

Cathy Sandeen, Chancellor, UAA

conducted at the end of spring semester.

They freely shared advice on how the university could help them in the fall semester. Their feedback indicated that while some of them prefer face-to-face course delivery, they were amenable to online learning. “With everything going on in their lives, they’re grateful they have this remote option. Overall, I think that with the initial changes we made, we did well,” Sandeen says, referring to UAA’s response to COVID-19.

Concerns over COVID-19 also led UAA to opt against holding an in-person spring commencement ceremony. To avoid a mass gathering, the university graduated more than 1,500 students virtually.

UA’s Financial Health The financial and other impacts of COVID-19 are expected to continue well into fall and beyond. However, the overall financial health of the university system became less tenuous with the UA board of regents’ recent approval of changes made to address the budget challenges, including voting to reduce academic programs, approve administrative cuts, restructure debt, and fund scholarships from the Natural Resources Fund.

In June, the board approved UA’s FY21 total budget of $832.3 million, including $277 million in Unrestricted General Funds (UGF) from the state, a decrease of $25 million from FY20, according to a June news release from UA. Regents agreed to spend $24.8 million in one-time funds to close a budget gap brought on by the financial impacts of the pandemic.

Consequently, UA will not pay $6.5 million in planned pay raises, will institute pay cuts for 166 executives through mandatory furloughs, and cut millions in system wide administrative costs, according to another June press release. Of the $33 million in FY21 www.akbizmag.com

budget reductions, more than $4 million is in academic program reductions, and $29 million is in administration and other areas.

The UA board of regents voted to reduce, discontinue, rename, or merge forty-five academic programs.

Programs approved for discontinuation impact the entire university system and include the bachelor of science in geography and environmental resources at the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS), the bachelor of arts in hospitality administration at UAA, and a master of arts in English at UAA. The eliminated programs will impact almost 700 students, thirty faculty and staff, and save close to $4 million.

In addition, the board agreed to postpone action on two programs— the master of science and doctorate of philosophy in atmospheric science at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF)—for consideration in January. The board also approved the establishment of two new academic programs: the interdisciplinary bachelor of arts at UAS and the undergraduate certificate in local knowledge educator at UAF. Incidentally, last year—well before the COVID-19 outbreak—the board approved a 5 percent tuition increase that goes into effect this fall. The tuition hike will also help ease financial strains while keeping the university system’s cost of attendance competitive, as it’s still lower than many other state universities in the western states.

The board previously contemplated combining the three-university system into a single accredited institution. At this juncture, that’s no longer being considered; however, there is work going on to increase collaboration and coordination across the university system’s campuses. Recently, the board approved a plan to study whether it makes sense to merge Juneau-based UAS with UAF, which would result in Alaska Business

cost savings. The study is scheduled to be complete by October 15.

Mixed Delivery for Fall Classes Like many entities, UA is employing a phased plan to help guide operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The plan consists of five phases of operations, along a spectrum from the most restrictive to the least restrictive, with safety measures built into each phase. At the beginning of June, the university system was still in Phase B, which limits interior spaces to 25 percent capacity, along with other safety measures. The next stage—Phase C—allows interior spaces to be at 50 percent capacity.

When Phase C will begin depends primarily on one factor: safety. UA will make the decision to deliver in-person classes based on the advice of public health experts, the chancellors, and other university leaders.

This fall, UAA anticipates providing a mix of alternate delivery and inperson instruction instead of the usual 70 percent face-to-face delivery of courses. Sandeen estimates that about 90 percent of UAA’s classes will be provided remotely, with the remaining 10 percent via alternate delivery. “I think it’s safe for us to use a smaller number for face-to-face delivery,” she says.

During the fall semester, UAA will hold in-person small courses, science labs, and clinicals while following mask-wearing, social distancing, and hygiene practices. A twenty-person limit could be allowed in accordance with state guidelines.

However, the university will discourage students from congregating or hanging out on campus. “It will be a controlled-entry situation,” Sandeen says. “Go [only] where you need to go.”

To maintain a more controlled environment, UAA will post new signs August 2020 | 11

This bridge connects the Engineering & Industry and Health buildings on the UAA campus.

UAA

to direct people where to go. And in some buildings, people will need to swipe their identification card to enter.

Continuing Innovative Initiatives Despite the coronavirus disruption and tough budget cuts, positive initiatives continue to take place within the university system. UA has been investing in several major initiatives over the years and is anticipating positive returns. One of the initiatives is a program that allows students to earn certain degrees and certificates entirely online. The program provides students with flexible access to education, allowing them to balance school with work and family obligations. UA is also investing in dual enrollment programs that let students simultaneously earn secondary and postsecondary credits.

UAA is leading several initiatives, including the 49th Finishers scholarship program, which was unveiled in May. The unique program caters to students who want to return to school or transfer from another institution. Essentially, the scholarship is available to Alaskan residents who have earned college credits but either studied elsewhere or took a break from school to focus on family, work, or other endeavors. “The 49th Finishers scholarship is an exciting opportunity for students to continue their education and earn a degree at UAA. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, 12 | August 2020

the program offers additional financial support for Alaska students who would like to return to school but may be experiencing financial hardship,” according to UAA’s website.

Students are automatically considered for the 49th Finishers scholarship if they apply for admission before the July 15 application deadline. Part-time recipients are awarded $1,000 per year while fulltime students receive $2,000 per year.

The scholarship is renewable for up to four years. And over the course of four years, eligible students can receive up to $8,000 in total financial assistance.

Alaskans have responded positively to the multi-year 49th Finishers scholarship. “We started advertising that during the pandemic and it’s the most successful campaign that we’ve ever had,” Sandeen says.

From early May to mid-June, the 49th Finishers site saw more than 18,000 page visits. Since its inception, the scholarship page has accounted for roughly 40 percent of the traffic to UAA's financial aid pages. Since UAA began advertising 49th Finishers, the university received roughly 500 applications for admission, many stemming from interest in this new scholarship opportunity.

Other UAA-led initiatives include launching an admission code designed to waive the application fee, removing barriers to application completion so that students can advance their

education. "We’re reminding people that UAA is here and it’s a world-class university right in their backyard."

This fall the university will offer training for occupational endorsement certificates in areas ranging from entrepreneurship and IT to infant and toddler development.

The certificates—which can be completed in as few as one or two semesters for most skill areas—are designed to allow people to retool quickly. “We’re being really innovative and agile— and addressing skills our community needs,” Sandeen says.

In addition, UAA is working closely with the state to offer contact tracer workforce development training for healthcare professionals. The training launched in June in response to state demand resulting from increased COVID-19 cases.

Positive about the Future “When you see all of the different ways that UAA serves Alaska, you can see we are a very strong university,” Sandeen says. “UAA promotes itself as an open access, modern, urban, metropolitan, connected university— and that won’t change. We are still that during the COVID-19 era. We will open up again and become the vibrant learning community that we are. We will begin to have so many of those face-to-face learning opportunities that we love, and in some ways, we’ll be better.”

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The past, present, and future of property management

By Vanessa Orr

O

wning a building requires a big investment in time and money. Someone has to collect rent, fill vacant spaces, handle maintenance issues, and generally just try to keep the tenants happy— and that’s just the beginning.

“A landlord might not be skilled, trained, or have enough time in order to properly manage a component of the property, such as accounting, prepping for taxes, knowing which vendor to call, managing reserves, maintaining records, or acting as a master negotiator,” explains Kassandra Taggart, the president and broker-in-charge of Real Property Management Last Frontier. “They also need to be available 24/7 in case of emergency and be able to keep up with today’s fast-paced technology environment.”

To this end, many landlords— individuals, retirement accounts, corporations, LLCs, trusts, and partnerships—hire residential and commercial property managers who are adaptive to the needs of the tenants and ultimately the revenue streams that make properties perform.

How Does a Property Manager Help?

According to Taggart, there are many reasons why outsourcing the work associated with running a building or an entire portfolio of properties can benefit a landlord.

“The speed to respond and complete tasks is faster, and this is especially important when it comes to tenant retention,” she says. “Tenants are demanding faster www.akbizmag.com

turnaround service.

“We work with 234 separate vendors who we can tap when we need assistance,” she continues. “If there is a plumbing issue that’s flooding the street, we have the guy who has the tool to shut off the water main on speed dial. We can solve the problem within minutes.”

In 2019 alone, the staff at Real Property Management responded to 89,334 emails, averaging 1.2 days to reply and complete requests.

Long gone are the days when a single person was able to handle the needs of even a handful of tenants, which is why many property management companies have moved to a team approach.

“When a landlord calls us, he or she is automatically plugged into our thirteen-member team that includes licensed property managers, certified accountants, people who specialize in brokerage and licensing laws, and paralegals,” says Taggart. “It’s like hiring a law firm where there are specialists in many different areas.”

Technology plays an integral part in effective property management.

“Property management isn’t just collecting a rent check and moving on,” says Taggart. “Now tenants want to e-pay by debit card and use technology to report maintenance issues without having to pick up a phone.”

She adds that tenants expect service on demand, which is forcing landlords to find managers who can handle a lot of requests coming at them at fast speeds. “If you’re a property owner without technology, such as cloud-based systems and performance benchmarks to hold your management team and tenants accountable, your competition will outpace you.”

As the tenant demands increase, along with local, state, and federal guidelines and regulations, landlords who take a DIY approach may find themselves overwhelmed.

“When you don’t have expertise in this area, you can miss out on opportunities to add revenue or to prevent expenses,” says Taggart. “A property manager can help you avoid costly mistakes.”

She gives the example of a landlord who didn’t monitor the elevator in his Alaska Business

“Every landlord is dealing with COVID issues differently; those that have reserves are offering delayed rent or payment plans or giving discounts on long leases. They are bending over backwards to front some of [the] weight if they can… Others— who may be hyperleveraged or want to get rid of certain tenants—are taking a more hardcore approach and using the court to pursue evictions.”

Kassandra Taggart President/Broker-in-Charge Real Property Management Last Frontier

building as part of routine operations, so it was missing the proper permits.

“When a city inspector was in the facility, he saw that it didn’t have permits, which resulted in the landlord receiving multiple layers of fines and having to bring it back up to code,” she August 2020 | 15

“There has been a paradigm shift, and things are not likely to return to what they were… People are also now more concerned about safety in the workplace, and that’s going to require more from landlords to ensure that they have a safe space in which to return.”

Robin Brena, Owner RSD Properties and CoWork by RSD

explains. “During that time it was not operational and tenants had to use the stairs, which made them angry and led to a host of other problems.”

Taggart adds that a property management company familiar with permitting would have identified this issue, saving the landlord the headache of fines, tenant displeasure, and wasted time.

Types of Property Management While a property management company can take over the entire operation of a building, it can also be hired as needed to do the parts of the job that a landlord doesn’t want to do. This can include asset management (monitoring a landlord’s employees and operations); portfolio management (monitoring all the landlord’s assets and proposing plans to maximize overall return); and leasing. Property management companies also offer á la carte services, creating custom packages to meet landlords’ needs.

Robin Brena, owner of RSD Properties and CoWork by RSD, prefers to have an in-house property

manager but outsources the work of filling vacancies to Regal North Commercial, a real estate and business boutique in Anchorage that buys, sells, and leases commercial properties, among other services.

Brena, who owns nine office buildings in Anchorage, one in Maui, and a retail location in Skagway, among various other properties, says, “We prefer to maintain a direct relationship with our tenants; if they call, we return the call within the hour.

“We use Regal for filling vacancies because they have expertise in regards to the real estate market— they are out in the market more often than we are, and they have a very broad reach,” he adds. “We value those skill sets: It’s one thing to take care of an existing building; it’s another to create a marketing plan and fill vacancies.”

While he doesn’t have numbers for how many companies choose to manage their own commercial properties versus hiring a property management company, Taggart believes that it’s similar to what’s happening in the residential real estate market.

“In Anchorage, there are 44,000 rental dwellings, but true property managers are responsible for only 1 percent of the market,” she says.

“About 20 percent of companies who own buildings have a staff that manages them; the rest are landlords who do it themselves.”

Finding the Right Fit With an abundance of property management companies out there, it’s important to find the right fit when turning over this level of financial and tenant responsibility.

Some of the issues to discuss during the interview process include how a property management firm operates; its level of communication with the landlord; the size of properties it manages; the retention and turnover of staff; the retention and turnover of tenants; and how many vendors they have on hand.

“You also want to ask more in-depth accounting questions—not only if they provide this service, but if they handle reserve analysis because not all companies can perform detailed 16 | August 2020

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

accounting,” says Taggart.

This is especially important when managing an entire portfolio of properties that can include anything from multi-family residential units to strip malls to office space and warehouses.

“A good property management company looks at the whole picture and can advise landlords on when to buy and sell, when to reinvest, and how best to redevelop space to attract more tenants,” Taggart says. “They can also analyze the best time to move money for maximum return.”

A property manager should be licensed, as well as bonded and insured. Individuals may hold a real estate broker’s license or have earned a degree in property management.

UAA offers one of only a handful of programs in the nation that offer a four-year degree in the management of real estate assets. The Weidner Property Management and Real Estate Program, which is housed in its College of Business and Public Policy, provides training in leasing and market analysis, asset maintenance, operating budgets, cash flow analysis

This will be the location of CoWork by RSD, a coworking space in Anchorage.

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Alaska Business

August 2020 | 17

and performance ratios, human resources, negotiations and conflict management, fair housing and landlordtenant law, real estate and contract law, managerial communications, micro and macroeconomics, risk management, and more.

Changing Market Trends

CoWork by RSD, which will be managed

by Regal North Commercial, will allow members to use the space to meet their individual needs.

Regal North Commercial

18 | August 2020

Like any industry, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused property managers to have to adapt to new conditions. Not only do they have tenants who have been hurt by the economic slowdown but they are also facing a formidable shift in the market.

“Every landlord is dealing with COVID issues differently; those that have reserves are offering delayed rent or payment plans or giving discounts on long leases. They are bending over backwards to front some of [the] weight if they can,” says Taggart. “Others—who may be hyper-leveraged or want to get rid of certain tenants—are taking a more hardcore approach and using the court to pursue evictions.”

Many tenants are now realizing that working from home has its advantages, and Taggart says that some of them are considering changes, especially if they are at the end of their leases.

“Some are thinking of looking for smaller spaces to rent, especially since they’ve realized that their electric and gas bills are cheaper while working from home,” she says. “We’re also seeing more interest in coworking spaces that are tech-friendly, as well as a growth in businesses like mobile mechanics who are in the market for short-term space.”

Landlords are having to consider innovative ways to attract tenants back to their buildings. “It’s creating new conversations about how we can keep operating costs down, and we’re seeing a lot of redesigning of space,” says Taggart. “Just like Airbnb disrupted the short-term rental market a few years ago, we’re now seeing landlords who want to turn their facilities into coworking spaces.

“This is a prime time for landlords to redefine spaces to make them candidates for tenants to rent,” she adds, “and the first to change will win the game.”

One of the biggest adjustments to come out of the pandemic is

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that after working from home for so long, people are now thinking about reducing the size of their office space.

They still want the advantages of high tech, however—as well as some human interaction.

“There needs to be more flexibility, and this forced evolution is happening much faster than anticipated,” Brena says. “People have had to create offices in their homes and invest in technology to operate remotely, and we’ve all adopted Zoom.

“We need to learn to do business differently; there has been a paradigm shift, and things are not likely to return to what they were,” he adds. “People are also now more concerned about safety in the workplace, and that’s going to require more from landlords to ensure that they have a safe space in which to return.”

“The key thing we’re offering is higher technology, including a blazing internet connection,” Brena says of his coworking space in Anchorage.

“People can still work at home but as members of CoWork can also have the ability to expand or contract their space as needed. Members can rent a conference space for an hour or hold an event with seventy-five people with audio-visual capacity. The space can be created around what they actually use,” he says.

“Community and progressive commerce are everything when it comes to where you will conduct business—that can be at home, in a physical building, or in the digital universe from wherever you wish to work remotely,” says Ryan Mae Lucas, owner of Regal North Commercial, which will manage the new coworking space. “Our team is obsessive about the marriage of functional and modern business practices while helping our clients pivot into the new digital age. Adopting technology and new ways of working will be evidenced by those that come out ahead post-COVID-19.”

In Alaska, where the economy has taken some big hits, flexibility can mean the difference between reopening and shuttering forever. “Alaska is a very dynamic market; as an oil state, we’ve seen many challenges to the industry, and the pandemic just compounded these issues,” Brena says. “There is so www.akbizmag.com

much political change and volatility in the business environment that having a flexible space can help mitigate a company’s risk.”

During this time of market upheaval, coworking spaces can also benefit landlords and the property managers who need to fill empty buildings.

“From a landlord point of view, if a space doesn’t fit a tenant and they leave, that may mean a vacancy of one month, or four months, or up to a year,” Brena says. “With a coworking space, membership may go up and down, but you’re never at zero.”

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He adds that a coworking space can also act as a feeder for a landlord’s other properties. “People may start out working from home and using a coworking space, but as they grow, they may want a more conventional space, which allows us to bring them into our business model.

“From the market information I’ve seen, ultimately 10 percent of office space is predicted to become coworking types of settings,” he says.

“The market is now at 1 percent, so I think this is an area of expansion, not just in Alaska but nationwide.”

August 2020 | 19

E N V I R O N M E N TA L

W A Breath

of Fresh Air Keeping workplace air quality in tip top shape

By Bailey Berg

ith the development of COVID-19, a disease that thrives in and spreads easily through indoor areas, it has become increasingly important for workplaces to provide their workers with good air quality.

Nortech Environmental & Engineering and EHS-Alaska Inc. are just two Alaska businesses working hand-in-hand with their clients to make sure indoor spaces are clean, fresh, and—most importantly—safe for employees to breathe for eight (or more) hours a day.

Inconvenient or Problematic?

Peter Beardsley, principal-in-charge at Nortech, says businesses usually reach out to Nortech when there is already a noticeable problem.

“Generally, where we get involved is when something breaks and nobody can figure out what the issue is,” Beardsley says. “When we get involved, it’s usually because there’s extreme occupant dissatisfaction with the air at

the workplace.”

Beardsley adds that “extreme occupant dissatisfaction” is more often reported in office buildings; unlike in known hazardous or high risk working environments, many owners or operators may not consider the quality of air in a traditional office space until there is a noticeable problem.

“People can recognize the hazards when they walk into a welding shop because, you know, there’s soot in the air, and it smells and tastes funny, and nobody would really question why there are OSHA standards to protect those workers,” Beardsley says. “Often when you walk into an office environment, you don’t really think about OSHA because there doesn’t seem to be anything obvious that’s detrimental to your safety as an occupant.”

Workplace air quality problems fall along a vast sliding scale. On the lowrisk end but still a frequent nuisance are unpleasant odors. Usually a relatively simple problem to solve.

But air conditions can be higher

risk: poor air quality can exacerbate underlying health problems. It can even trigger what is known as Sick Building Syndrome in which building inhabitants become ill or are infected with a chronic disease.

Identifying the Source Martin Schwan is an industrial hygienist and project manager with EHS-Alaska Incorporated and serves on the technical committee for the Indoor Air Quality Association. When he assesses the air quality of a business for the first time, he often starts with a worker log.

“Those logs tell me a lot,” Schwan says. “For instance, if workers say they get itchy throats first thing in the morning, it could be because they work somewhere where the ventilation system does nighttime setbacks, so there’s no moving air. And, if you do have contaminants, that tends to build up their concentration, so when it kicks on in the morning it starts diluting those contaminants.”

Knowing detailed specifics about a complaint—whether it’s an odor or chemical offense, the time of day it occurs, how long it lasts—allows him to look for trends.

Beardsley agrees: “If there’s a number of employees that can basically corroborate each other, that gives us a really good starting point.”

From there, air quality experts conduct a series of tests to zero in on the factors that could cause the specific issues being investigated.

Three screening tools are commonly used: One is an instrument that measures volatile organic compounds in the parts per billion range. “That’s not something you can necessarily smell, but they’re everywhere,” Beardsley says. “They occur in the natural environment, they’re in air fresheners, they’re in gasoline.”

Another tool is colloquially called an indoor air quality meter, but it measures oxygen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, temperate, and relative humidity. Their levels can be indicators of a host of issues.

The final tool is called an ultrafine meter, which measures very fine particulates, with a focus on incomplete combustion.

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“There are some really nice systems that are being implemented into the design of new buildings that allow for continuous monitoring, and you can actually, remotely, change your settings to remove contaminants as you start to see those levels build up.”

The Importance of Clean Air Martin Schwan, Industrial Hygienist, EHS-Alaska

Alaska they’re working in, they’ll often perform additional testing, taking into consideration the city’s environment.

Juneau, for instance, has more moisture issues than Anchorage and Anchorage has more problems with adjacent buildings, like asphalt plants, than remote areas.

Beardsley says most organizations follow guidance set forth by three government groups to determine if a building meets safety standards:

Solutions vary as much as problems; while sometimes the culprit is an old system or a repurposed warehouse or industrial space that lacks a proper ventilation system, Schwan says, companies simply don’t do enough to maintain and regularly replace their air filters. Something as seemingly mundane as a birch or cottonwood tree bloom can clog the filters, preventing them from doing their job and causing (often literal) headaches down the road.

the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and the American Conference of Government Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH).

During an air quality evaluation, the assessors will use OSHA, NIOSH, and ACGIH as the basis for their recommendations, which are outlined in a report given to the property manager.

It ’s easy to overlook an old air filter; modern living is getting more complex by the day and, as the old saying goes, "out of sight, out of mind"—but Schwan and Beardsley agree that switching out an old filter for a fresh one can have a significant impact on employee health and happiness.

Schwan says it’s rare that a company contacts EHS-Alaska preemptively, but he anticipates that in the wake of COVID-19 more companies are likely to conduct air system maintenance.

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In the coming years, one of the new “perks” of a workplace might be a stateof-the-art ventilation system capable of easily purifying the air based on the building’s specific air quality needs.

“There are some really nice systems that are being implemented into the design of new buildings that allow for continuous monitoring, and you can actually, remotely, change your settings to remove contaminants as you start to see those levels build up,” Schwan says.

“Some of the new smart technology is incredible, and, considering the cost is getting lower, there are big benefits in integrating those.”

In the meantime, there are effective methods to improve and maintain workplace air quality.

Beyond setting up procedures to regularly check and replace air filters, building managers should keep in mind that indoor air quality is affected by the number of people in the room. Even before COVID-19 and the concept of social distancing became entrenched in our daily lives, experts recommended keeping a room below capacity and spreading out.

“The more people that are in a room, the more CO2 builds up,” Beardsley says.

“Conference rooms usually weren’t built to be at full occupancy for very long— they’re just not well ventilated. Too much CO2 makes people sleepy, which isn’t great for employee productivity.”

Constantly circulating fresh air is a solid goal for businesses, but it can be costly, especially within the 49th State.

Bringing outdoor air inside necessitates prodigious amounts of energy to either heat up or cool down the air to a comfortable temperature, as well as to humidify or dehumidify it to make it easier to breathe.

Still, Beardsley says the efficiency gained by making employees comfortable far outweighs the cost.

“Think about it: you read about a new building in the newspaper and it costs tens of millions of dollars, but when you take the average salaries of the people working there, that’s way more than what the building is worth,” Beardsley says. “That efficiency gained in having your employees be comfortable is always the biggest bang for your dollar.

By the time employees complain,

“When we get involved, it’s usually because there’s extreme occupant dissatisfaction with the air at the workplace.”

Peter Beardsley, Principal-in-Charge, Nortech

they’re already mad, so office managers and building owners should absolutely spend more time making sure that their occupants are comfortable. It really makes for a better workplace for everyone.”

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Six Common Air Pollutants

According to the CDC, “The EPA has identified six pollutants as ‘criteria’ air pollutants because it regulates them by developing human health-based and/or environmentally-based criteria (science-based guidelines) for setting permissible levels.” The pollutants that fall under this designation are carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen oxides, ozone, particulate matter, and sulfur dioxide.

Particulate Matter Carbon Monoxide (CO)

Sulfur Dioxide

CO is a colorless, odorless gas that’s harmful in large amounts and is generally released when something is burning. According to the EPA, “Breathing air with a high concentration of CO reduces the amount of oxygen that can be transported in the blood stream to critical organs like the heart and brain. At very high levels, which are possible indoors or in other enclosed environments, CO can cause dizziness, confusion, unconsciousness, and death.” CO is commonly produced by fossil-fuel burning machinery, such as furnaces or unvented kerosene or gas space heaters.

Of the group of sulfur oxides, sulfur dioxide (SO2) “is the component of the greatest concern,” says the EPA. The agency reports that the largest source of SO2 is the burning of fossil fuels at power plants and industrial facilities, though smaller sources of emission include extracting metals from ore; vehicles, ships, and heavy equipment; and natural sources like volcanoes.

“Short-term exposures to SO2 can harm the human respiratory system and make breathing difficult,” the EPA says, and at high concentrations gaseous sulfur oxides can damage foliage and stunt growth.

24 | August 2020

Also called particle pollution, particulate matter is the term used for a mix of solid particles and liquid droplets in the air: “These particles come in many sizes and shapes and can be made up of hundreds of different chemicals,” the EPA explains. When particulate matter contains particles that are small enough, they can be drawn deeply into the lungs and even into the bloodstream. Because smaller particles pose the greater danger in this context, the EPA does not regulate particles larger than 10 micrometers; particles less than 2.5 micrometers, which are regulated, pose the most serious health risk.

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Ozone

Lead

Nitrogen Oxides

Lead is a naturally occurring heavy metal; it’s dispersed into the air though ore and metal processing, pistonengine aircraft operating on leaded aviation fuel, waste incinerators, utility operation, and lead-acid battery manufacturing. According to the EPA, “Once taken into the body, lead distributes throughout the body in the blood and is accumulated in the bones. Depending on the level of exposure, lead can adversely affect the nervous system, kidney function, immune system, reproductive and developmental systems, and the cardiovascular system. Lead exposure also affects the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood.”

Nitrogen oxides include nitrous acid, nitric acid, and nitrogen dioxide, or NO2, which is used as the indicator for the larger group of nitrogen oxides.

NO2 primarily enters the air through emissions from cars, trucks, busses, power plants, or off-road equipment.

The EPA explains the health effects of NO2: “Breathing air with a high concentration of NO2 can irritate airways in the human respiratory system. Such exposures over short periods can aggravate respiratory diseases, particularly asthma, leading to respiratory symptoms (such as coughing, wheezing, or difficulty breathing), hospital admissions, and visits to emergency rooms.”

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According to the EPA, Ozone is both good and bad “depending on where it is found.” We rely on ozone that occurs naturally in the upper atmosphere and forms a protective layer that shields the earth from ultraviolet rays from the sun.

However, ozone at the ground level has a negative impact on people and the environment. Ground-level ozone is the result of chemical reactions between nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds. “This happens when pollutants emitted by cars, power plants, industrial boilers, refineries, chemical plants, and other sources chemically react in the presence of sunlight,” the EPA states. Breathing ozone can “trigger a variety of health problems including chest pain, coughing, throat irritation, and airway inflammation. It also can reduce lung function and harm lung tissue.”

August 2020 | 25

26 | August 2020

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INDUSTRIAL SUPPORT SERVICES

Advocacy, education, and training support and build Alaska’s industries

By Tasha Anderson

T

he editorial team at Alaska Business is happy to present our inaugural Industrial Support Services Special Section. When we were planning the 2020 editorial calendar in 2019, we knew there was some change on the horizon with the introduction of a new special section—we didn’t anticipate that we’d be launching it from our respective home offices. But we took the example of many of the excellent organizations represented in this section and adapted: supporting Alaska’s largest industries requires the ability to accept the circumstances of a project and get the job done anyway.

We publish special sections routinely throughout the year to highlight Alaska’s major industries, including oil and gas, mining, fishing, construction, transportation, engineering, and healthcare. And while we deeply value our opportunities to focus on (and inform our readers about) a specific industry, the reality is many of Alaska’s support service companies provide goods, services, and expertise that span multiple industries. Some companies provide a niche service that benefits any natural resource project, while others meet a variety of project needs but only within a certain geological area. Our goal in this special section is to highlight the vast and varied capabilities of Alaska’s industry support organizations.

Trade associations and advocacy groups play an important part in supporting the companies and employees working in Alaska’s www.akbizmag.com

major industries, often acting as the bridge that connects businesses, educational institutions, nonprofits, and government organizations.

The Alliance According to Rebecca Logan, CEO of The Alaska Support Industry Alliance, it’s not a matter of how many companies the association supports, but if there are any that it doesn’t. “In the state of Alaska, everybody’s in the support industry for oil, gas, and mining,” she says. “Our mission statement is that we promote responsible development of Alaska’s oil, gas, and mineral resources… what we really do is advocate for our members to the owner/operators; advocate on behalf of the industries to state government and federal government; and advocate for our members in the industry to the general public, to keep them apprised of the status and the health of the industry and any state or federal policies that are impacting industry.”

That advocacy takes many forms.

One is the AK Headlamp, a blog that’s updated regularly with information on energy and politics related to industry.

“That reaches between 30,000 and 40,000 people a day,” Logan says.

The Alliance also organizes events, mainly for its members. As an example, recently it presented a virtual update for its members on the Qilak LNG 1 Project, a $5 billion proposition to establish a liquefaction plant a few miles offshore of Point Thomson, allowing LNG to Alaska Business

be shipped directly from the North Slope to primarily Asian markets.

The company expects to complete a feasibility study late this year or in early 2021, according to Qilak LNG Chairman and CEO Mead Treadwell, with a goal to begin production in 2026/2027 if all goes according to plan.

If the Qilak LNG 1 Project is constructed, it could create 200 construction jobs in Alaska, as well as 200 operational positions on the North Slope and in Southcentral, which would result in many indirect job opportunities, as well. Being given a heads up on this kind of project helps support companies spot potential contracts, services, or sales opportunities.

In addition to broad-based advocacy, informative tools like the AK Headlamp (which Logan writes), events, and educational opportunities, The Alliance also provides specific services to companies one-on-one.

“We have a program where we partner with our members to really help them promote their business, so we spend a lot of time every day working with individual members to help them on marketing ideas for their companies,” Logan explains.

The Alliance also advocates on behalf of Alaskans by promoting Alaska hire and the utilization of Alaska entities.

“About 80 percent of our members are Alaska-based companies, and then there are about 20 percent that have had a strong Alaska presence for twenty, thirty, or forty years but are headquartered elsewhere,” Logan says.

August 2020 | 27

INDUSTRIAL SUPPORT SERVICES

The A(ssociation) Team

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Alliance member companies employ approximately 28,000 Alaskans, which is 8 percent of the state’s residents. “I do spend a lot of time working with our owner/operators just to make sure that we’re constantly promoting Alaska hire and Alaska companies,” Logan says.

And while it clearly benefits support companies, Logan says it’s a smart move for owner/operators as well.

“The companies who've worked in Alaska have an experience that outside companies can't even begin to understand… the working conditions on the North Slope are very unique,” she says. “It’s [also] less expensive for the owner-operator because you don’t have people who are traveling from the Lower 48—you have people that live here, that are headquartered here, who live, work, and play here.

“COVID-19 has really highlighted how critical that is, because that hit and procedures were changed on the North Slope, where everybody's two on/two off. Well that went away fast: it was more like four on/two off. And then what started happening was that people who were in the Lower 48 who were working on the North Slope had to have their four weeks on, then they could go home for two weeks, but then if they wanted to come back—and this is still in place—and work on the North Slope, first they had to quarantine here for two weeks… It very quickly became cost prohibitive to try to integrate people from out-of-state into the COVID working environment.”

While The Alliance advocates for the overall health of Alaska’s industries and the companies that operate in them, Logan emphasizes a focus on the support organizations.

“Even though we’ve been around for forty-one years, even people in our industry don’t realize that the owner/ operators are not allowed to be members of our organization,” she says. “That doesn’t mean we don’t get along—in fact, we spend a ton of time with them—but, again, we were formed to advocate on behalf of our members to the owner/operators.”

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Resource Development Council

“Our mission statement is that we promote responsible development of Alaska’s oil, gas, and mineral resources… what we really do is advocate for our members to the owner/ operators; advocate on behalf of the industries to state government and federal government; and advocate for our members in the industry to the general public, to keep them apprised of the status and the health of the industry and any state or federal policies that are impacting industry.”

Rebecca Logan, CEO, The Alaska Support Industry Alliance

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The Resource Development Council (RDC) is aligned with The Alliance on many issues, and RDC Executive Director Marleanna Hall says in the past 28 | August 2020

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The association’s membership includes companies that work in fishing, forestry, mining, oil and gas, and tourism; all twelve of the Alaska Native regional corporations and many of the Alaska Native village corporations; trade and labor entities; municipalities and boroughs; and other support service companies.

RDC doesn’t have set restrictions on which companies can or cannot apply for membership, but “we don’t typically have a lot of people that oppose resource development that try to get involved in our membership,” Hall laughs.

One of RDC’s goals is to have many voices participating in resource development; the best way to make sure a project benefits everyone is for all key stakeholders weigh in. Sometimes that’s easier said than done, especially for projects in remote areas (as most of them are) or when dealing with limited technology or transportation.

Since COVID-19 began its steady disruption of everything, Hall and the RDC team have been looking for ways to continue to operate optimally and

provide value to members. “Typically— not during COVID-19 times—we’d be advocating at the state and federal level and rallying the troops to testify, which we’re still doing, just in a different manner,” she says.

“We’ve had to change the way that we approach responding to public comment opportunities, for example, but I feel we’ve been successful in getting the voice of Alaskans who want responsible resource development to participate, whether it’s been phoning in or testifying via Zoom webinars to different agencies that have held public comment periods in the last couple of months.”

Hall says there is a silver lining to the move online: it has become easier for some people to participate. “They’re not having to go sit in a room for two to three hours and wait in line… you don’t have to go into Anchorage to the Dena’ina Center or elsewhere to participate, you can be at your cabin in Willow.”

Representing such a wide array of interests can be challenging. Looking around the state today, interests in

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the two organizations have worked with other trade associations to the benefit of Alaska’s industries. “Some of the best things we’ve done with other trade associations is invite public leadership—federal level and public officials—to visit Alaska and to speak to our different members,” Hall says. “We try to bring people to Alaska that will help demonstrate that Alaska is open for business… and we work closely with other trade associations on projects like ballot measure campaigns.”

RDC’s mission is “to grow Alaska through responsible development” and encompasses all forms of natural resource development, including mining, oil and gas, and renewable resources like fisheries, forestry, and tourism. “For us, that really entails seeing development done in a way that helps protect the environment, helps protect the people around it, helps provide for the people around it, and helps give back to the state,” Hall says. “Without resource development in Alaska, studies have said that Alaska’s economy would be one-third the size.”

INDUSTRIAL SUPPORT SERVICES

“Our priorities are to make sure that Alaskans are ready and qualified for jobs with Alaska’s major process industries— energy, mining, fishing, construction, maintenance—and upgrading the skills of our Alaskan workforce to prepare them for roles in those industries.”

Cari-Ann Carty, Executive Director Alaska Safety Alliance

tourism and forestry don’t always align, and the Pebble mine is a prominent example of resource development interests at odds. “We have our mission and we would never put one project over another project; we would never put one industry over another industry,” Hall says. “We try to include everyone’s perspectives in different positions that we take as an organization.”

RDC has navigated Alaska’s sometimes complicated development landscape for decades and is celebrating its 45th anniversary— and its long history of educating and informing Alaskans—this year. “For much of the last fifteen years, we’ve made an effort to have everything we do—whether it’s a comment letter, our breakfast meetings, the conference presentations—all of that we do we try to put on our website. As we celebrate our 45th anniversary, it’s important to 30 | August 2020

let people know that we have a ton of information on our website… and these resources are free to anyone because we want our fellow Alaskans to be wellinformed,” Hall explains.

Alaska Safety Alliance The Alaska Safety Alliance focuses on education and training on an individual level. “Our priorities are to make sure that Alaskans are ready and qualified for jobs with Alaska’s major process industries—energy, mining, fishing, construction, maintenance— and upgrading the skills of our Alaskan workforce to prepare them for roles in those industries,” says Executive Director Cari-Ann Carty.

While the Alaska Safety Alliance has been strengthening Alaska’s workforce since 1999, it hasn’t been doing so under that name. Originally established as the Alaska Process Industry Careers Consortium, or APICC, the organization changed its name last October to the Alaska Safety Alliance. “[The original name] hit the mark for what we did at the time, which was really development of process technology training across the state,” Carty says. “Since that time we’ve grown and expanded; we serve a multitude of industries, from maritime to construction to mining. Anywhere there’s this kind of safety or regulatory type of training that’s required.”

The Alaska Safety Alliance partners with various entities to develop collaborative solutions to serve the workforce needs of industry in Alaska, and those solutions are sorely needed. According to the 2020 Annual Business Confidence Index Report presented by the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation and prepared by McDowell Group, 71 percent of Anchorage businesses stated that the availability of a professional/technical workforce is a barrier to business growth.

“There’s not a single method that we use,” Carty explains. “They range quite broadly from creating US Department of Labor-sponsored apprenticeship programs to working at the University of Alaska to implement the process technology degree program. It could be teacher externships, student scholarships, safety training… we don’t limit ourselves except for does

it fall within our mission to make sure Alaskans are prepared and ready to go to work for our industries.”

How those methods are developed depends on information from the companies the Alaska Safety Alliance serves. “We need to know what the workforce needs are going to be in six months, a year, two years from now,” Carty says. “Once there is already a need, it’s really difficult for us to meet that need with Alaskans because we need to get them trained up and ready to fit in.”

Carty sees several clear advantages to putting Alaskans to work on Alaska projects; from an employer perspective, hiring qualified personnel locally reduces the amount of time it takes to fill a position, reduces the time necessary to prepare for an upcoming project, and saves money. “In turn, [employees] feel kind of a connection to the environment, to the state, to their community, and reinvest in that.

There’s an advantage on both sides, for the employers and for Alaskans, to have this symbiotic relationship.”

She says research shows that Alaska projects hiring Alaskans is also more efficient, as there’s higher turnover when employees are brought in from Outside.

As with The Alliance and RDC, the Alaska Safety Alliance relies on partnerships with various entities to deliver needed services. “We are so blessed that we have such an amazing relationship with great organizations like AVTEC, Iļisaġvik College, MAPTS; with all the university systems statewide; or with outside training organizations, whether they’re for-profit, nonprofit, or with the state of Alaska—all those resources can come together in the same room and I can meet with all of them at once and we can talk about how we’re going to collaborate to make things happen for our industries. It’s challenging, but it’s the most fantastic job I’ve ever had.”

Each of these associations has a unique mission and different approaches to meeting it. They are a part of the massive network of industry support service entities that allow Alaska’s world-class projects to not just get off the ground but operate safely, efficiently, and often longer than originally anticipated.

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Made for the North

There’s a reason why the people living here are often referred to as the “chosen frozen.” With a notoriously challenging climate and winter that includes nine months of darkness, enduring the Last Frontier requires a special kind of person. The women and men working in some of our most challenging industries are no exception. Fortunately, these individuals can at least rely on having the right tools to accomplish their varied tasks. Without the proper gear, tools, and equipment specifically tailored to meet the demands of working here, Alaskans would struggle, and so too would some of the state’s most important industries.

Companies operating in the support service industry are as diverse as the work itself; these are the retailers, manufacturers, and supply chainoriented solutions that do business at the intersection of some of Alaska’s most important industries. Industries like aviation, fishing, and oil and gas. The offerings of support service companies adhere to a similar level of variety— with cross-functional products and applications that find homes in more than a single tool kit. Shane Langland and Eagle Enterprises embody such cross-funtionality.

Alaska’s support industry provides the right tools for the job

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Branching Out

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H

ere in Alaska—we suffer better than most.

32 | August 2020

“We’re a multi-function business,” Langland says. Part supplier, part manufacturer: this staple of the support service industry has been providing an array of products and services since 1972. “We do [US] Coast Guard and aviation servicing of regulated life rafts and life vests. We do marine and aviation liferaft services and sales of those products. We sell, service, and rent the helicopter transport dry suits for the oil industry.”

Additionally, Eagle Enterprises operates a full industrial safety shop— providing items like survival kits, cold weather gear, and flares for companies across Alaska and those individuals seeking a taste of adventure. One particularly unique item the company manufactures is its electric bear fences, which it sells to outdoor enthusiasts and national parks around the country,

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“It helps to be somewhat diversified in what you do. Some companies do very, very well on a single source like marine, aviation, or industrial… But I’ve found through my time owning this company that we’ve seemed to find niches in a lot of different industries that are all tied back to safety and survival.”

Shane Langland, President, Eagle Enterprises

and fabricating above ground wastewater treatment systems out of welded thermoplastic sheets more than a decade ago. These systems are specifically engineered to withstand temperatures up to -60°F and are resistant to corrosion. After experiencing early success with its

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residential systems, Lifewater branched out into the commercial sector.

The company’s systems have since been featured in a variety of remote camps—including ExxonMobil’s Point Thomson development—as well as hotels and mining operations across the state. It didn’t take long for Lifewater

August 2020 | 33

INDUSTRIAL SUPPORT SERVICES

placing the company comfortably in the tourism industry as well.

Langland’s intimate knowledge of the state’s rules and regulations is part of what allows him to effectively market his products and find niches in multiple industries, connecting the dots for sectors like oil and aviation.

The helicopter dry suits they sell and service are one example. Langland explains that while these items are required for many marine and aviation operations, the oil and gas industry simply wanted to adopt them as an additional safety measure.

To survive the Alaska economy, Langland believes: “It helps to be somewhat diversified in what you do.

Some companies do very, very well on a single source like marine, aviation, or industrial,” he says. “But I’ve found through my time owning this company that we’ve seemed to find niches in a lot of different industries that are all tied back to safety and survival.”

Owner Bob Tsigonis and the team at Lifewater Engineering agree with this sentiment. Based out of Fairbanks, Lifewater began designing

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“We have antiquated infrastructure that was not principally designed to be a road to resources; it is more of a general thoroughfare for delivering normal loads of freight.”

Tom Hendrix, Vice President of Oil and Gas, Carlile

to identify an additional application for its plastic fabrications, capitalizing on a different demand.

“Those tanks we built from welded, thermal plastic eventually got us into boatbuilding,” Tsigonis explains.

“Because people tend to damage their aluminum boats, they put plastic on the bottom to protect it. So we decided ‘Hey, we might as well build the entire boat out of plastic.’” This served as the inspiration for a new manufacturing company: Class5 Boatworks, specializing in ‘Rough Duty Boats’ that are engineered to combat Alaska’s more difficult aquatic environments.

But the challenges companies face in Alaska aren’t limited to inclement

weather and the occasional mountain to navigate; freight and shipping costs associated with getting items to and from the state is another problematic matter, agree both the Eagle Enterprises and Lifewater teams. “[Looking] at the cost of living associated with shipping quotes—we realize we’re in the wrong business,” jokes Lifewater’s Director of Product Development Jerry Fleishman. “But really that’s just part of living in Alaska, and this is where we want to be.”

‘The Bigger the Challenge…’

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providers tasked with addressing the obstacle of freight.

“The bigger the challenge, the better we like them,” says Tom Hendrix, Carlile vice president of oil and gas.

As far as the items they’re transporting are concerned—like windmills for CIRI’s Fire Island project, or, say, an entire drilling rig second in size only to Doyon’s “Beast”—Hendrix doesn’t feel that Alaska differentiates itself too wildly from the Lower 48. A modest claim. But the items they transport have inspired some of their most impressive creations to date. “We’ve had to build the largest trailer we owned, designed to move 250,000 pounds of net payload,” Hendrix says. “That trailer has eighty tires that touch the ground.”

Regarding one of the issues freight poses to companies in the state, Hendrix points to challenges with Alaska infrastructure itself. “Our road systems are so much different than the continental United States and Canada,” Hendrix says. “Our infrastructure is somewhat of a limiting factor. We’re limited by the Alaska road system to carry less than 200,000 pounds—and what really limits us is the bridges. We have antiquated infrastructure that was not principally designed to be a road to resources; it is more of a general thoroughfare for delivering normal loads of freight.”

Partnering with the State of Alaska’s Department of Transportation’s Weights & Measures agency has been one way that Carlile has navigated this issue. Hendrix is quick to praise the cooperation of the state agency that has allowed the trucking industry to maximize what they can safely transport while simultaneously protecting Alaska’s roads and bridges.

“We took the largest trailer that we have and loaded it with a static load in an 80-foot configuration,” he continues. “We then tested, with the

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department’s Weights and Measures bridge engineers, every bridge south of Prudhoe Bay coming all the way into Anchorage to look for deflection and bending moments on the steel superstructures of the bridges.” Hendrix revealed that this inter-industry effort actually resulted in having two bridges replaced that were limiting factors to transporting large loads for oil companies on the Dalton Highway.

Pivoting through Partnerships This theme of partnering across industries and leveraging connections isn’t a strategy that’s necessarily unique to Alaskans, though the state’s relative isolation and dependence on its direct community does appear to play into the frequency of these partnerships—resulting in an economy that is well-connected, resilient, and better suited to adapt in the face of hardship.

Heading into 2020, Claire Neaton and sister Emma Teal Laukitis were basking in the optimism that spawned from two strong years of growth. In

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“I do believe that over time [the COVID-19 pandemic] will change people’s buying propensities, retail store opportunities, and change the way people think about commodities and goods.”

Shane Langland, President, Eagle Enterprises

their brief but jam-packed company history, Salmon Sisters’ design work has elevated some of Alaska’s most popular gear. Their printed XTRATUF boots, shared by both commercial fishermen catching the food and grocery shoppers picking it up at the store, are a testament to a brand that is both functional and fashionable.

But this also speaks to the company’s ability to form lasting partnerships.

Perhaps no alliance has been quite as important as the one with Homerbased manufacturer NOMAR. “Our biggest partner in that world is NOMAR,” says Neaton. “They produce everything from brailer bags for commercial fishing to upholstery, and they also create a line of apparel for us.” The Salmon Sisters’ crossfunctional brailer bag tote is one product of their collaboration with NOMAR. “These are products that folks are taking on boats within our industry, and it highlights the multiuse of a product we can create—from the back deck of a fishing boat in Sandpoint to a ski race in Fairbanks.”

But like many Alaska companies, as the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic began to sink in, the Salmon Sisters were required to reconsider their business model and pivot to both new and old ways of doing business.

“When the pandemic hit, we had built up our team and were in kind of a hard spot trying to manage the vision of the company, what routes we would go,” explains Neaton. In March, the Salmon Sisters received a disaster relief loan from the Small Business Administration due to the fires on the Kenai Peninsula. Because of this, Neaton believes they were in a position to pivot “pretty dang well” with the funds they had available.

36 | August 2020

“We were very, very fortunate,” she continues. “Since the March 19 date where things started to happen, we took the conversation within Alaska incredibly seriously and then just changed. We knew that our landscape would be different and rocky for years to come, that we needed to get back to basics.” Those basics included temporarily closing their retail store in Homer and refocusing their efforts on their e-commerce platform to supply customers across the United States with orders of frozen fish and their Alaskan-made products.

“We’re kind of back to square one— in Homer using our tiny space as an [e-commerce] fulfillment center as we did in the very beginning.”

Neaton attributes much of their success in navigating the uncertainties of the pandemic to the partnerships they’ve cultivated with NOMAR and other vendors throughout the state. “The ability to work with them [NOMAR] closely in town—they are doing such a good job, they are producing everything from face shields to masks. They are doing a lot of great things and have responded really well.

“Watching it go back to exactly what we were doing five years ago and realizing those key strengths and knowledge of simple systems… we didn’t realize that this would be so pivotal at this time,” Neaton says. “[As is] relying on those relationships with vendors we’ve been cultivating for years across the state and finding solutions together.”

What’s Next?

On what form the Salmon Sisters business model might take, Neaton says this: “We just know we’re in the beginning stages of a long haul: we’ve

made the first wave and now we’re trying to figure out what Salmon Sisters will be—we’ll see. The people will tell us what they want.”

Salmon Sisters isn’t the only company that continues to diversify its offerings and reconsider its business model moving forward.

Out of a need born from the pandemic and a relationship formed with local law enforcement, the same ultraviolet technology that’s used in Lifewater’s wastewater segment recently allowed the company to develop an ultraviolet disinfection unit for the interior spaces of vehicles. This allows law enforcement to effectively sanitize the front and rear transport compartments of their cars in roughly three and a half minutes.

“One of the things that has been interesting,” Lifewater Operations Manager Aaron Baranoski adds, “is that it seems like a lot of local businesses are in fact thinking about operations in general. They are looking to see if there’s any way they can slightly change their operations for the better down the road—not just for this crisis.”

Certainly, Eagle Enterprises is one of these businesses. When prodded on what the future of industrial support services might look like, Langland offered one perspective on the matter. “Unfortunately, you’re asking that question in the time of COVID-19. It is such a state of unknown right now. I don’t know if it will be good or bad for retailers, but I think that it’s a transformative experience we’ve gone through on so many levels. I do believe that over time this will change people’s buying propensities, retail store opportunities, and change the way people think about commodities and goods.”

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From Sea to Sale

Alaska’s seafood supply chain depends on processing, freezers, and logistics

By Sam Friedman 38 | August 2020

A

laska seafood takes many different paths to market, but one of the most common paths involves removing fish heads and guts, freezing the fish, and shipping it out of state.

Headed and gutted fish is the single largest category of seafood product produced by Alaska’s fish processors, outstripping more value-added products like fillets, canned fish, and prepared seafood products. Much of the headed and gutted fish is ultimately bound for US markets—but it first travels across the Pacific for secondary processing done mostly in China.

Today’s seafood supply chain gets Alaska seafood to consumers at low cost. Modern freezing methods help lock in taste and nutrients to ensure a positive experience for consumers, even after the highly perishable product has traveled long distances in cargo ships. But like Alaska’s oil industry, Alaska’s seafood industry supply chain moves most of the state’s seafood out of state as an unrefined product, creating a persistent challenge for fishing communities that seek to keep more value and more Alaska fisheries jobs in state.

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superior product, and our customers seem to agree based on their continued loyalty and support.”

Jim Kostka, Marketing Director, Copper River Seafoods

Across fishery types, whole fish and headed and gutted fish made up 41 percent of the first wholesale value of Alaska seafood products in 2017-2018, according to the 2020 Economic Value of Alaska’s Seafood Industry report prepared by McDowell Group.

Fillets were the second most valuable wholesale seafood product at 20 percent, followed by surimi at 13 percent. Surimi is ground fish paste, usually made from Alaska pollock, used to make imitation crab meat, among other products.

The proportion of product types doesn’t change much year-to-year, but there is considerable variation between different fisheries, says Dan Lesh, a senior analyst at McDowell Group who worked on the 2020 report.

One of the biggest changes has come in the salmon fishery where freezing has largely replaced canning.

Canning only stopped being a major commercial method for preserving Alaska salmon fairly recently.

In 2007 freezing overtook canning as the main method of processing pink salmon, the most frequently canned salmon among Alaska’s five salmon species. In 2019, only about a third of Alaska’s pink salmon was canned, according to Commercial Operator's Annual Reports data from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The proportion of canned salmon is considerably smaller for Alaska’s other salmon species.

Some Alaska salmon is processed into fillets before freezing, but most is frozen whole after being headed and gutted, says Lesh.

Pollock, the groundfish that produces more seafood by weight than any other fish in the United States, tends to undergo more processing within www.akbizmag.com

Alaska compared to most other fish, says Lesh. Most pollock fished in Alaska is sold wholesale as either surimi or fillets. But cod—the second most fished groundfish in Alaska—doesn’t follow the same pattern as pollock. Like salmon, most cod leaves Alaska headed, gutted, and frozen.

adopt chilling technology as some fish processors now require chilled fish. Between 2009 and 2018, chilled salmon increased from 16 percent to 84 percent of the Bristol Bay drift net salmon catch, according to a BBRSDA-commissioned survey published in April.

Finding Value at the Start of the Supply Chain

Copper River Seafoods Adds Value in Alaska

For Alaska salmon fishermen, the move from canned salmon to frozen salmon created an opportunity to receive a higher price for their catch, provided they can invest in technology to keep their boats cool.

Freshness and quality matter more for frozen salmon than for canned salmon, and processors are willing to pay a premium for fish that arrives at the dock cold.

As Executive Director Andy Wink at the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association (BBRSDA) puts it, “The product used to wear a parka to the market, and now it wears a birthday suit.”

That’s why the BBRSDA has been helping Bristol Bay fishermen invest in technologies to start chilling salmon onboard the vessel that catches it.

Bristol Bay fishermen chill most fish by installing refrigerated seawater systems that pump cold water into fishing vessel holds.

Processors started to prioritize chilled salmon about fifteen years ago, paying bonuses of $0.15 to $0.25 per pound of fish, says Wink. This is a significant incentive for fishermen who are paid a base price of about $1 per pound for sockeye salmon.

Fishermen have been quick to take advantage of chilled salmon bonuses and have been further spurred to

Like most other processors, Anchorage-based Copper River Seafoods does basic heading, gutting, and freezing operations at its port processing facilities.

But unlike most of the industry in Alaska, the company also does much of its secondary processing in Alaska. Fish travel from the company’s Cordova, Kenai, Kotzebue, Naknek, and Togiak fishing ports to the company’s plant in Anchorage’s Mountain View neighborhood for further cutting and

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Copper River Seafoods

Dominance of the Head-and-Gut Export Model

August 2020 | 39

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“By processing the harvest locally, we believe that we provide a

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to nearly 20 percent of Copper River’s business over the course of a few months. It’s too soon to know if directto-consumer sales will continue to be a larger revenue source, Kostka says.

“It usually takes about sixty days for habits to form—good or bad—and it seems like it hasn’t slowed down even with the Lower 48 starting to come back online,” he says. “We’ll see if it’s a flash in the pan.”

Fresh Seafood and the Chain of Custody

Workers unloading salmon during the 2020 Copper River opener in Cordova.

Copper River Seafoods

packaging. About 60 percent of the company’s seafood passes through the Anchorage value-added plant, says Jim Kostka, the company’s marketing director.

Kostka describes Copper River Seafoods as the only Alaskan-owned seafood company among the state’s eight largest seafood processors. Being an Alaskan-owned company that does its secondary processing in-state puts the company in a niche that customers seek out, he says.

“We know that we are at an economic disadvantage if you simply compare something like the cost of processing,” he says. “By processing the harvest locally, we believe that we provide a superior product, and our customers 40 | August 2020

seem to agree based on their continued loyalty and support.”

In addition to processing fish for grocery and warehouse store chains, Copper River Seafoods’ plant in Anchorage also makes custom seafood cuts for restaurants. Or at least it did before COVID-19 forced the closure of many restaurants across the country.

Like many food suppliers, Copper River Seafoods had to suddenly find a market this spring for food that would normally go to restaurants. The business responded by expanding its direct-to-consumer seafood sales, both online and at an Anchorage pop-up market. Direct-to-consumer seafood sales grew from 10 percent

Fresh Alaska seafood is a small piece of the seafood market compared to the frozen market. Fresh products make up about 6 percent of the market by value.

But fresh seafood products can be an important ambassador for the Alaska seafood brand. Early each summer, Alaska Airlines celebrates the arrival of fresh Copper River king salmon with a highly publicized flight from Cordova to Seattle. The 2019 flight carried more than 20,000 pounds of salmon in a jet painted like a chinook and known as the Salmon Thirty Salmon II. This annual flight is met with fanfare, but it is by no means the only Alaska Airlines 737 filled with fresh seafood.

The airline frequently carries planeloads of Alaska seafood, most commonly salmon, halibut, cod, and shellfish, says Shannon Stevens, the company’s regional cargo sales manager. Fresh Alaska seafood now flies through the express Goldstreak services, the cargo equivalent of first class.

“Alaska Airlines has always been in the seafood business; however, over time, the product has changed from a frozen backhaul commodity to a fresh, time-sensitive, high demand product,” she says.

Of course, fresh seafood only helps the Alaska seafood brand if it arrives at its destination tasting fresh.

To maintain the reputation of the company’s seafood, Copper River Seafoods retains ownership of its seafood products until they have arrived at their destination and have been inspected and found to be the correct temperature, says Kostka.

"Nobody wins if you have a substandard product served as quality on a high-end dinner plate," he says.

"Until the last minute, we'll hold that chain of custody."

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Alaska Airlines

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“Alaska Airlines has always been in the seafood business; however, over time, the product has changed from a frozen backhaul commodity to a fresh, time-sensitive, high demand product.”

Shannon Stevens, Regional Cargo Sales Manager Alaska Airlines

Improvements in electronic shipment tracking over the past several years have made it easier to track products to their destination, he says. Today it’s possible to get an Arctic Keta salmon (also known as a chum salmon) from the Bering Sea to Anchorage to a dinner plate at a Paris restaurant in less than 24 hours.

But while it’s possible to transport a fresh fish across the world, today’s freezing technologies make it possible to deliver a frozen fish that tastes just as fresh without needing time-sensitive plane connections, Kostka says. www.akbizmag.com

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August 2020 | 41

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“Following the tariff increases in 2018 and 2019, the US lost market share while China’s total seafood imports nearly doubled.”

Ashley Heimbigner Communications Director, ASMI

Alaska Seafood and the China Trade War The trade war between China and the United States has hurt Alaska’s seafood industry both by making Alaska seafood less competitive to Chinese consumers and by adding costs in the secondary processing supply chain. The trade war continues to affect the Alaska seafood industry despite the Phase I trade deal reached between the two countries in January.

About two-thirds of Alaska’s seafood is exported. China remains the largest buyer of Alaska seafood, even with recent import reductions attributed to the trade war. China’s neighbors Japan and South Korea are the next largest Alaska seafood buyers.

China is both a final market and an intermediate market for Alaska seafood. The Chinese tariffs on US imports are supposed to only target seafood that’s being consumed in China, but in practice, the trade war also affects the secondary processing business in China. That’s because Alaska seafood products that are processed in China are subject to US tariffs when they are re-imported into the United States.

China has a large consumer market for seafood that has imported more and more seafood over the course of the trade war. But the US seafood industry hasn’t been able to take advantage of 42 | August 2020

Sockeye salmon on a Copper River Seafoods processing line in June 2020. Salmon are first headed and gutted. Many of the company's products undergo additional processing in Anchorage.

Copper River Seafoods

the growing market. US seafood exports to China decreased 10 percent in value last year.

“Following the tariff increases in 2018 and 2019, the US lost market share while China’s total seafood imports nearly doubled,” says Ashley Heimbigner, communications director at the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, Alaska’s official state seafood marketing arm.

Chinese tariffs on most Alaska seafood products—including frozen finfish, roe, and many types of shellfish— currently sit at between 32 percent and 40 percent, she says.

The trade war started in 2018 and showed some signs of easing in Januar y with the signing of

Phase 1 of a trade agreement; however, Phase I doesn’t include any immediate tariff reductions for Alaska seafood, says Heimbigner.

The deal does have a mechanism that can allow the import of Alaska products without the higher tariffs on a case-by-case basis.

“Currently, Alaska’s Chinese customers can apply for an exclusion as part of the Phase 1 trade deal, and if granted, can import an approved quota of Alaska seafood that is not subject to the additional tariffs,” Heimbigner says.

“While this is not an ideal situation, it has allowed limited access for Alaska seafood to the massive China market.”

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What’s Cookin’ at the Camps?

How remote workers ‘fuel up’ while on site

By Amy Newman

I

t takes a lot to keep Alaska’s remote worksites running smoothly.

Whether it’s transporting goods and materials, maintaining operating equipment, or managing camp quarters, support service companies play an integral role in keeping the mining, oil and gas, and other critical industries open for business.

Perhaps the most vital of these services? Food. Catering camps provide the fuel for a workforce that spends 12hour days hundreds of miles from home, weeks at a time.

Good, hearty food–and lots of it–is what keeps them going.

“I think anybody up there will tell you one of the most important things for morale is food,” says Annette Sheppard, director of business development and external affairs at Denali Universal Services, which provides culinary, janitorial, housekeeping, and facility management services to remote workforces along the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, the North Slope, and at critical infrastructure projects across the state. “So, [employers] want to

44 | August 2020

make sure they’re fed and happy and taking that social hour.”

But dishing up good eats in such rugged conditions isn’t without its challenges. Staving off mealtime monotony, delivering goods and supplies to remote locations—even dealing with the occasional bear meandering into the kitchen— there’s a lot more to contend with at remote camps than the typical workplace cafeteria.

“It is a logistical challenge,” says John Dittrich, vice president of ICE Services, which provides catering, lodging, and hospitality services at fourteen camps and hotels across the North Slope. “Certainly, it’s a lot more challenging than running a restaurant in Anchorage.”

Designing Menus Like any restaurant, mealtime starts with menu planning. Whether catering services operate their own camps—ICE Services, for example, has temporary, mobile camps operating across the North Slope, as well as permanent camps in Deadhorse—or are hired to run another, menus are designed with a mix of client input, budgetary restrictions and special requests, and expertise.

“The most important thing is to accommodate what the client’s needs are,” says Jenny Dickinson, operations manager at Five Star Oilfield Services,

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“Five months ago, we did a test with all the plant-based meats. It was a huge hit. Cauliflower crust pizzas, the Impossible Burgers—people loved them, which was a surprise to me… What we serve is based on what the population wants and responds to.”

Annette Sheppard, Director of Business Development and External Affairs, Denali Universal Services

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which provides remote catering, hospitality, and camp services at eighteen locations across Alaska. “So, we work with them to provide a wellbalanced menu and make sure we fit all of their requests in.”

Requests often involve specific menu items—prime rib or steak nights are almost standard on the North Slope— or themed dinner nights. Outside of those parameters, catering camps are generally given a fair amount of leeway in designing their menus.

“In some cases, customers are very specific,” Dittrich says. “[They’ll] want steak every Sunday or ‘Taco Tuesday.’

A lot of times they say, ‘Just use your best judgment.’”

That judgment has been honed through years of experience serving remote workers, learning what they like, and monitoring what’s popular, which sometimes comes down to something as seemingly simple as workers showing a preference for one brand over another, Dittrich says.

Sheppard of Denali Universal has noticed a change in eating habits as the workplace shifts from older to younger workers. They’ve grown to include not just specific dietary lifestyles, like ketogenic or paleolithic, but food trends she never thought would be welcome.

“Five months ago, we did a test with all the plant-based meats,” she says. “It was a huge hit. Cauliflower crust pizzas, the Impossible Burgers—people loved them, which was a surprise to me. But that’s something that’s standard on the menu now. So what we serve is based on what the population wants and responds to.”

No matter the dietary preferences, menus are typically scheduled on a five-week rotation. This not only helps maintain consistent meals across camps but makes procurement easier and keeps mealtimes from getting boring.

“If you have chicken parmigiana one night, probably five weeks from [then] you’ll have chicken parmigiana again,” Dittrich explains. “[For] people who are working a two-week on/two-week off or three-week on/three-week off shift, hopefully on a five-week rotation, you might see chicken parmigiana once this hitch. You see the same meal from time to time, but not every week.”

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Every catering camp has a 24-hour spike room stocked with snacks, drinks, pastries, sandwich fixings, and other on-the-go items.

Denali Universal Services

Food Delivery With the closest suppliers hundreds of miles away and accessibility dependent upon the season and camp location, procuring goods requires pre-planning not only to ensure on-time deliveries but to manage costs.

Five Star Oilfield Services operates several platform-based camps and front-loads them with supplies shipped via barge to minimize shipping costs, Dickinson says. When barges can’t get through the ice during winter, weekly helicopter flights to the platforms supplement the camps with fresh food and staples.

On the North Slope, Ice Services’ Deadhorse camps receive weekly van loads of food year-round, Dittrich says.

For locations without year-round road access, like the Aurora Express Camp at Greater Moose’s Tooth or the Qiruk Camp at Point Thomson, they use ice roads to cross the Colville River or Rolligons to traverse the tundra to deliver non-perishables and minimize air freight costs.

Because working in a remote location means no quick trip to the 46 | August 2020

local Fred Meyer when the kitchen’s running low on milk or eggs, buying and delivering non-perishable and frozen food in bulk ensures a healthy stock of supplies—without breaking the food budget.

“We’ve brokered a really good partnership with one of the largest buying groups from the Lower 48 that allows us to take advantage of some excellent buying opportunities,” Dittrich explains. “We purchase in volume and utilize local and national suppliers for different things. We’re always shopping for the best value, especially things that can be frozen or have a [long] shelf life.”

Chefs work with procurement to schedule orders, Sheppard says, making sure to build in lead time so it arrives when it’s needed.

“From the time they place an order to the time the food arrives is probably five days, but it does have to be planned,” she says. “When they want extra meals at Christmas, or crab, or wings for the Super Bowl, that has to be planned several weeks in advance to get to them on time.”

How much inventory each camp stocks is up to the client, but Sheppard says Denali Universal Services suggests three weeks’ worth to ensure an adequate supply in the event shipments are delayed.

“A couple of years ago the roads went out and [the camp] was getting kind of concerned,” she says. “At the end of the day, it all worked out. Since then our protocols have changed, so there’s a bigger inventory. I don’t think anybody’s going to be hungry or run out of toilet paper.”

Dinner (and Breakfast and Lunch) Is Served For many people it’s easy to take a good, hot meal with friends and family for granted. At remote worksites, those seemingly little things make a big difference, personally and professionally.

“I think all of the companies have learned that well-rested and well-fed employees make for safer and happier employees,” Dittrich says.

Unless the client requests otherwise, catering camps provide a minimum

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really good partnership with one of the largest buying groups from the Lower 48 that allows us to take advantage of some excellent buying opportunities… We’re always shopping for the best value, especially things that can be frozen or have a [long] shelf life.”

Providing Alaska with unequaled service with highly trained professionals and an extensive fleet of specialized equipment • • • •

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John Dittrich, Vice President, Ice Services

of three hot meals a day served at designated times, with the option for a fourth.

“Mealtimes run every six hours around the clock if there’s a night crew working,” Dickinson says.

“Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a midnight meal. We have a full menu that provides several choices so that our clients can choose what best suits their individual dietary and nutritional needs.” Meals can be taken to go, she adds, if workers want to eat in their room or won’t be able to return to camp in time for the next meal.

Meals are generally ser ved buffet-style; space constraints at the smaller remote sites make it difficult to offer made-to-order, Sheppard says, though breakfast is often an exception.

“You can’t do fried eggs and put them on the buffet and expect people to eat them,” she says.

In addition to the standard fiveweek meal rotation to keep meal repetition at a minimum, catering services provide several entrée and vegetable options per meal, as well www.akbizmag.com

NRC Alaska has merged with US Ecology, a leader in environmental services across North America.

(907) 258-1558

Alaska Business

August 2020 | 47

INDUSTRIAL SUPPORT SERVICES

“We’ve brokered a

INDUSTRIAL SUPPORT SERVICES

Catering camps offer a wide assortment of freshly baked pastries, including cakes, cookies, pies, and doughnuts, at every meal and in the 24-hour spike rooms.

Denali Universal Services

“[For holidays] you don’t get to run down the street and get party decorations, so it’s fun to see the staff get creative and do ice sculptures.

The residents love it, the clients love it, everybody has a good time.”

Annette Sheppard Director of Business Development and External Affairs, Denali Universal Services

48 | August 2020

as soups, fruits, a salad bar, and freshbaked desserts.

“Generally, there are two to three entrée choices for every meal,” Dittrich says. “Breakfast is typically the standard breakfast you find at a lot of buffets— there’s always eggs, there’s always breakfast meats, sometimes pancakes or waffles or French toast, or made to order omelets.”

Dinners may include a chicken or fish option, while rotating in special requests, such as Mexican night or prime rib, Sheppard says.

During the summer, barbecuing takes center stage.

“Smoked prime rib or pork ribs, beef brisket, and things like that are very popular,” Dittrich says. “We also have a fresh fish program in the summer, which is something we take pride in.”

Because workers can’t always make it back to camp for lunch, boxed lunches are often the best choice for refueling on the go. Sometimes that means creating a lunch with food from the spike room—a 24-hour convenience store of sorts available at every camp and stocked with portable snacks like yogurt, string cheese, chips, and fruit, as well as fixings to make sandwiches. Other times, the kitchen boxes up the meal.

“Some camps have everything you need set up to create your own meal to take with you for lunch, so you get exactly what you want,” Dickinson says. “For other camps, we have everything put together, bagged up, and ready to go.”

Every camp also offers an assortment of fresh-baked pastries, like homemade cookies, cakes, pies, muffins, and other desserts at every meal and in the spike room. Offering made-from-scratch desserts—as opposed to popping open a tube of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls—is just another way of contributing to the quality of life at the camps.

“It goes back to the whole social aspect and good food,” she explains.

“You got to make people happy to come to work and be there.”

Catering services are also adept at using leftovers to minimize waste. Steak and potatoes from last night’s dinner become tomorrow’s soup, or burritos will be individually wrapped and available in the spike room for after-

hours snacking or on-the-go lunches, Dittrich says.

And they’re constantly implementing new ideas to keep workers happy.

“We’ve created these hydrating water infusion stations where [workers] can pick various fruits that get infused in the water,” Dittrich says. “We also offer smoothies and fresh, cold-pressed juices at some of our locations. We just try to do those things to make people enjoy what they’re doing.”

Holidays and Special Occasions Working remotely can mean working through holidays, so catering services make a point of going all out when workers are more likely than usual to miss family mealtime.

“It helps to have a fantastic holiday dinner to look forward to when you are missing these special times at home,” Dickinson says.

Meals include the traditional holiday fare, such as turkey and all the fixings for Thanksgiving and ham on Easter, along with splurge items to make the day extra special.

“We like to go over the top for holidays,” Dickinson says. “Holiday dinners are always memorable. Our cooks prepare crab, T-bone steaks, lobster tails, filet mignon, and all of the side dishes to go with it.”

Holidays also give staff a chance to get creative and make the dining room festive.

“You don’t get to run down the street and get party decorations, so it’s fun to see the staff get creative and do ice sculptures,” Sheppard says. “The residents love it, the clients love it, everybody has a good time.”

Catering camps also plan meals for special guests and company celebrations. Dittrich says ICE Services has catered meals for out-of-state congressional leaders touring Alaska, as well as employee appreciation dinners.

And like any kitchen staff, they love getting appreciative words from the clients they work so hard to make feel at home.

“When clients call me to complain that the crews are gaining weight, that’s when we know our Five Star employees are doing an excellent job,” Dickinson says. “We get these calls often, all in good fun.”

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

Across our 10,000-square mile service area, we partner with businesses to provide long-term solu�ons for our members that help them amplify their work and remain connected and compe��ve.

Whether building the first all-terrestrial fiber network to the con�guous U.S. through our wholly-owned subsidiary, MTA Fiber Holdings, or hos�ng esports events that unite residents from across the state, MTA is commi�ed to powering technological innova�on in our communi�es and delivering solu�ons for local businesses to succeed.

Through our empowerment of local residents and technology educa�on ini�a�ves designed to develop talent, our roots remain in the communi�es we serve and the strength of our people.

As a company by Alaskans and for Alaskans, we couldn’t be prouder to provide job opportuni�es for Alaskans across the state.

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INDUSTRIAL SUPPORT SERVICES

INDUSTRIAL SUPPORT SERVICES

DIRECTORY

ADVOCACY, PERSONNEL, TRAINING & FACILITIES AFOGNAK LEASING MATT THORPE, COO AFOGNAK NATIVE CORPORATION 3909 Arctic Blvd., Ste. 500 Anchorage, AK 99503 afognakleasing.com jarlington@afognak.com 907-222-9500 Lease and sell temporary and permanent remote camp and workforce housing facilities, portable offices, and oil field support equipment. Build to suit mancamp and workforce housing facilities.

Provide camp relocation, operations, and management services.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2004/ 2004 | 28/28

ALASKA EXECUTIVE SEARCH PAULA BRADISON, PRES. 821 N St., Ste. 201 Anchorage, AK 99501 akexec.com frontdesk@akexec.com 907-276-5707 Recruitment and placement of executives and professionals, engineers, technical, accountants, information technology, software development, sales, medical office support, office administration, bookkeeping, and temporary personnel.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1977/1977 | 8/4

ALASKA MINERS ASSOCIATION DEANTHA CROCKETT, EXEC. DIR. 121 W. Fireweed Ln., Ste. 120 Anchorage, AK 99503 alaskaminers.org ama@alaskaminers.org 907-563-9229 Nonprofit industry support organization for the mining industry.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1939/1939 | 3/3

ALASKA OIL AND GAS ASSOCIATION KARA MORIARTY, PRES./CEO 121 W. Fireweed Ln., #207 Anchorage, AK 99503 aoga.org info@aoga.org 907-272-1481 Alaska oil and gas industry trade association.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1966/1966 | 4/4

and educators to create, connect and enhance the quality of industry training and education programs in Alaska with the goal of powering the Alaska economy with a skilled and dynamic workforce.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1999/1999 | 6/6

ARCTIC ENERGY GREG PORTER, PRES. PO Box 220110 Anchorage, AK 99522 arcticenergyalaska.com gporter@arcticenergyalaska.com 907-382-7772 Founded in 2012, Arctic Energy provides combined heat and power energy solutions and distributed generation throughout Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, and extreme locations, such as Greenland and Antarctica.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2012/2012 | 5/3

ASSOCIATED GENERAL CONTRACTORS OF ALASKA ALICIA SIIRA, EXEC. DIR. 8005 Schoon St. Anchorage, AK 99518 agcak.org info@agcak.org 907-561-5354 The AGC of Alaska is a construction industry trade association representing more than 600 member companies and their employees in Alaska. We are proud to promote the skills, responsibility, and integrity of our members throughout the state.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1918/1948 | 6/6

BEACON OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY SERVICES HOLLY HYLEN, PRES./CEO 800 Cordova St. Anchorage, AK 99501 beaconohss.com mhylen@beaconohss.com 907-222-7612 Beacon provides remote medical, occupational medicine, safety staffing, and training solutions to keep your employees safe and healthy, regardless of their location.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1999/1999 | 230/220

DEADHORSE AVIATION CENTER TIM CUDNEY, DIR. 301 Calista Ct. Anchorage, AK 99518 deadhorseaviation.com 907-685-1700

ALASKA SAFETY ALLIANCE CARI-ANN CARTY, EXEC. DIR. 2600 Cordova St., Ste. 105 Anchorage, AK 99503 alaskasafetyalliance.org info@alaskasafetyalliance.org 907-770-5250

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

The Alaska Safety Alliance works with industry

2012/ 2012 | 6/6

50 | August 2020

Fairweather’s Deadhorse Aviation Center is strategically designed to provide North Slope operators with a state-of-the-art Fixed Base Operation (FBO), providing logistics, lodging and support activities in the Arctic.

ESS SUPPORT SERVICES WORLDWIDE LARRY WEIHS, RVP 201 Post Rd. Anchorage, AK 99501 essalaska.com gthompson@ess-worldwide.com 907-865-9818 Restaurants, lounges, espresso. Catering services: remote sites: short-or long-term, including offshore platforms, camp janitorial and other employee staffing and leasing, in-flight services, governmental agency support services.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1986/1986 | 1,100/200

ICE SERVICES TJ BOURDON, PRES. 2606 C St. Anchorage, AK 99503 iceservices.net info@iceservices.net 907-644-0385 ICE Services, Inc. has served many clients and has completed numerous projects all over Alaska. From designing, building, and installing camps and utilities to providing catering and camp operations, helpdesk outsourcing, and maintenance services.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1986/1986 | ~400/~400

LYNDEN TRAINING CENTER ERIC BADGER, PRES. 4325 Cinch St. Fairbanks, AK 99701 lynden.com/training ltc@lynden.com 907-456-2223 Provides training in hazardous materials transportation, emergency response, incident management, hazardous waste, workplace safety, and equipment operation. A division of Alaska West Express, we are "the hands-on training facility."

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1995/1995 | 4/4

OPTI STAFFING GROUP REED HATCH, REGIONAL MGR. 3601 C St., Ste. 1220 Anchorage, AK 99503 optistaffing.com anchorage@optistaffing.com 907-677-9675 We're about people. Results. And relationships.

We specialize in recruiting top tier talent on a contract, contract to hire, and direct hire basis within a wide range of industries: manufacturing, finance, customer service, heavy industrial and more.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1999/1999 | 85/15

PERSONNEL PLUS EMPLOYMENT AGENCY MIKE SCHEBLER, PRES./OWNER 1500 W. 33rd Ave., Ste. 220

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

Full-service agency providing temporary help, permanent placement, executive search, and employee leasing for all industries.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1989/1989 | 600/600

PLUMBERS & PIPEFITTERS UA LOCAL 375 ROBERT HUBBARD, BUS. MGR. 3980 Boat St. Fairbanks, AK 99709 ualocal375.org JATC@ualocal375.org 907-479-6221 Train and refer members to signatory contractors for employment in the plumbing, pipefitting, and pipeline industry.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1947/1947 | 585/585

RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL ALASKA MARLEANNA HALL, EXEC. DIR. 121 W. Fireweed Ln., Ste. 250 Anchorage, AK 99516 akrdc.org resources@akrdc.org 907-276-0700 RDC is a statewide nonprofit organization of individuals, local communities, Native corporations, organized labor, and businesses from all resource sectors, including oil and gas, mining, fisheries, timber, and tourism.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1975/1975 | 4/4

THE CANNERY LODGE RON HYDE, PRES./CEO 2101 Cannery Rd., #13 Kenai, AK 99611 thecannerylodge.com kasey.loomis@thecannerylodge.com 907-261-9499 Alaska's premier lodging and event venue on the Kenai Peninsula, The Cannery Lodge is the perfect location for corporate retreats, staff training, and private events to meet your business needs.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2014/2014 | 10/10

THE K3 GROUP HEATHER BECKER , VP 3705 Arctic Blvd., #353 Anchorage, AK 99503 thek3group.com Info@thek3group.com 907-312-5535 The K3 Group strive to provide exceptional, high-quality workforce housing and remote management services, safely, while adding value that exceeds our clients’ expectations.

Our team has more than thirty years combined experience.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2012/2014 | 175/110

800-225-2752

CONSTRUCTION, DESIGN, DRILLING & TRANSPORTATION ACUREN INSPECTION FRANK NOBLE, REG. MGR. AK 7910 King St. Anchorage, AK 99518 acuren.com travis.thorson@acuren.com 907-569-5000 Materials engineering, nondestructive examination, and integrity management for the oil and gas, power, mining, transportation, and construction industries.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

Goldstreak package express, Pet Connect Animal Travel, priority and general air freight services.

Our modern fleet of 737-700 freighters serves 19 Alaska communities with connections to more than 100 destinations in the Lower 48, Hawaii, and beyond.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1932/1932 | 24,000/3,000

ALASKA AIRLINES BRAD TILDEN, CHMN./CEO AK AIR GROUP 3600 Old International Airport Rd. Anchorage, AK 99502 alaskaair.com 907-266-7200 Alaska Airlines and regional carrier Horizon Air provide passenger and cargo service to 115 destinations in Alaska, Canada, Mexico, Hawaii, and the Lower 48.

1976/2002 | 5,000/18

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

AHTNA ENVIRONMENTAL TIM FINNIGAN, PRES. 110 W. 38th Ave., Ste. 200B Anchorage, AK 99503 aeiak.com 907-644-0760

1932/1932 | 23,000/1,800

Specializes in the execution of time-sensitive, complex, and multifaceted environmental, engineering, construction, and professional services projects for government and commercial clients.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2010/2010 | 187/71

AIRPORT EQUIPMENT RENTALS JERRY SADLER, OWNER/PRES. 1285 Van Horn Rd. Fairbanks, AK 99707 airportequipmentrentals.com aer@aer-inc.net 907-456-2000 AER has the largest and most diverse fleet across Alaska. With six locations providing rentals, sales, and service for the construction and oil and gas industries. AER has the expertise, inventory, and dedication to meet any of your equipment needs.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1986/1986 | 107/107

AIRSIDE SOLUTIONS RICK LAFFERTY, VP/REGION MGR. 2222 W. Valley Hwy. N., Ste. 140 Auburn, WA 98001 airsidesolutionsinc.com rlafferty@airsidesolutionsinc.com 253-833-6434 AirSide Solutions is a full line provider of Airfield and Heliport Lighted Navigation systems, technical services, and logistics support to the aviation market in Alaska.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1978/1988 | 12/0

AK SUPPLY RONALD SMITH, PRES./CEO 8000 King St. Anchorage, AK 99518 Bob@AKSupply.com 907-562-3422

ALASKA COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT GROUP MATTHEW L GREER, PRES. 3324 Koba Way Fairbanks, AK 99709 alaskacdg.com acdshops@alaska.net 907-457-1861 General contractor located in Fairbanks specializing in design/builds. Wood and metal framed industrial buildings. Has space for lease for oil/gas semi-haulers looking for an affordable/ secure/clean warehouse.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1997/1997 | 10/10

ALASKA CRANE BRENNAN WALSH, PRES. 11900 S. Gambell St. Anchorage, AK 99515 alaskacrane.net info@alaskacrane.net 907-522-9004 Operated crane services, lift planning, heavy lift, and long-reach specialists. Arctic-rated cranes to -40 degrees.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2001/2001 | 20/20

ALASKA DIRECTIONAL BILLY LONG, PRES./CEO 200 E. Commercial Dr. Palmer, AK 99645 alaskadirectional.com akdirectional@alaskadirectional.com 907-357-9015 Horizontal directional drilling, trenching, plowing, underground utility installation, telecom installation, Fiber Optic installation/splicing, communication towers.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2012/2012 | 115/115

ALASKA DREAMS MEINI HUSER, PRES./CEO 2081 Van Horn Rd., Ste. 2 Fairbanks, AK 99701 alaskadreamsinc.com sales@alaskadreamsinc.com 907-455-7712

YUKON FIRE PROTECTION SERVICES MATT ATKINS, GM 5601 Silverado Way Anchorage, AK 99518 yukonfire.com matkins@yukonfire.com 907-563-3608

Engineered and production solutions, valve actuation, HP iron, piping, pipeline saddles/ hangers, corrosion mitigation, Flo-control, valve lubricants/equipment, engineered composite docks, rig mats, towers, modules, and all things oil and gas related.

Design, sales, and construction of fabric covered steel buildings and pre-engineered metal buildings.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1991/1991 | 20/8

1994/1994 | 30/30

Fire and gas detection and suppression system design, supply, installation, and service. Alaska's only representative of Detector Electronics. Kidde Fire Systems, Marioff Hi-Fog, Ansul, Tyco Fire Protection Products.

ALASKA AIR CARGO TORQUE ZUBECK, MNG. DIR. 4700 Old International Airport Rd. Anchorage, AK 99502 alaskacargo.com cargo@alaskaair.com

ALASKA MARINE LINES KEVIN ANDERSON, PRES. 660 Western Dr. Anchorage, AK 99501 lynden.com/aml information@lynden.com

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1978/1978 | 58/47

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Alaska Business

August 2020 | 51

INDUSTRIAL SUPPORT SERVICES

Anchorage, AK 99503 perplus.com mikes@perplus.com 907-563-7587

INDUSTRIAL SUPPORT SERVICES

907-339-5150 Alaska Marine Lines is a marine transportation company providing barge service between Seattle, Alaska, and Hawaii. We offer regularly scheduled service to Southeast Alaska, Central Alaska, and Hawaii, and seasonal service to Western Alaska.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1980/1980 | 234/18

ALASKA MATERIALS JOHN HORJES, PRES. PO Box 92688 Anchorage, AK 99509 alaskamaterials.com john@alaskamaterials.com 907-290-8031 Alaska Materials is a “direct ship” wholesale construction materials supply company. We serve all industries including oil, power, LNG, mining, marine, seafood, federal, state, tribal, village projects. We specialize in full truckloads.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2017/2017 | 5+/1+

ALASKA ROTEQ KEVIN LAURIN, PRES. 2051 Foundry Way Wasilla, AK 99654 akroteq.com info@akroteq.com 907-376-0550 Machine shop work, pump repairs, valve repairs, welding and coatings. Distributor for numerous pump and valve companies, Flowserve mechanical seals, and Ingersoll Rand air compressors.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1993/1993 | 26/26

ALASKA TENT & TARP SEAN MCLAUGHLIN, CEO 81 E Commercial Dr. Palmer, AK 99645 alaskatent.com marketing@airframesalaska.com 907-331-4480 Secondary containment production.

Geomembrane liners and berms. Portable fabric structures. Arctic Oven tents. Custom sewing projects and repairs.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1945/1945 | 65/65

ALASKA TEXTILES CLIF BURNETTE, PRES. 620 W. Fireweed Ln. Anchorage, AK 99503 alaskatextiles.com info@alaskatextiles.com 907-265-4880 We are the number one supplier of FRC apparel, to include our very own Korbana Protective Apparel, in Alaska, and around the world. With a highly trained sales staff we make customer service and quality control our priorities.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1978/1978 | 20/20

ALASKA WEST EXPRESS ERIC BADGER, PRES. 1048 Whitney Rd. Anchorage, AK 99501 lynden.com/awe information@lynden.com 907-339-5100 Alaska West Express provides oversized and bulk truckload transportation throughout the United States and Canada, specializing in shipments to, from, and within Alaska.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1978/1978 | 179/164

ALASKAN ENERGY RESOURCES LEE SMITH, SR. VP 1120 Huffman Rd., Ste. 234 52 | August 2020

Anchorage, AK 99515 alaskanenergyresources.com akerr@alaskanenergy.com 907-336-4664 Provides oil drilling equipment to operators.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2001/2001 |5/5

ALEUT CORPORATION THOMAS MACK, PRES./CEO 4000 Old Seward Hwy., Ste. 300 Anchorage, AK 99503 aleutcorp.com info@aleutcorp.com 907-561-4300 Federal government contracting, O&M, logistics, IT; remediation, demolition, telecommunications; engineering, prototype, manufacturing; fuel sales, oil & gas related services; oil well-testing; real estate; and mechanical fabrication & installation.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1972/1972 | 950/95

ALL AMERICAN OILFIELD PETE DICKINSON, PRES. 14896 Kenai Spur Hwy., Ste. 203 Kenai, AK 99611 allamericanoilfield.com info@allamericanoilfield.com 907-283-1048 On-shore and off-shore services include drilling, maintenance and support, workover, coil tubing, grind and inject, and well testing crews. Professional services include oilfield engineering, consulting, and management services.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2010/2010 | 100/100

ALYESKA PIPELINE SERVICE COMPANY BRIGHAM MCCOWN, PRES. PO Box 196660, MS 542 Anchorage, AK 99519 alyeska-pipe.com alyeskamail@alyeska-pipeline.com 907-787-8700 Alyeska Pipeline Service Company has operated the Trans Alaska Pipeline System since 1977 and delivered more than 18 billion barrels of oil. Focused on safe and flawless operations, employees are committed to keeping TAPS sustainable for Alaska.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1970/1970 | 745/744

AMERICAN MARINE INTERNATIONAL DAVID SHAHNAZARIAN, VP 6000 A St. Anchorage, AK 99518 amarinecorp.com alaska@amarinecorp.com 907-562-5420 American Marine is a full service marine contractor providing commercial diving, marine construction, ABS and nondestructive examination, marine salvage and emergency response, and vessel support for a wide variety of projects.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1973/1993 | 260/57

BAKER HUGHES JON RHODES, AREA MGR. AK 795 E. 94th Ave. Anchorage, AK 99515 bakerhughes.com 907-267-3431 Baker Hughes covers every segment of the oil and gas industry as a full-stream company, including upstream, midstream, and downstream solutions.

Delivering integrated oilfield products, services, and digital solutions to the oil and gas industry.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1969/1980 | 67,000/85

BERING MARINE CORPORATION RICK GRAY, PRES. 6520 Kulis Dr. Anchorage, AK 99502 lynden.com/bmc information@lynden.com 907-248-7646 Bering Marine Corporation provides highly specialized marine services to reach water-locked villages and other remote Alaska locations.

Our fleet of shallow-draft equipment supports construction of docks, roads, and airstrips in Alaska communities.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1985/1985 | 70/69

BLACKWATER MARINE MALINDA LULHAM, OWNER CEO 12019 76th Pl. NE Kirkland, WA 98034 blackwatermarine.com info@blackwatermarine.com 425-828-6434 Diving and marine construction.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2000/2000 | 12/5

BRISTOL ENGINEERING SERVICES COMPANY TRAVIS WOODS, PRES./CEO 111 W. 16th Ave., Third Fl. Anchorage, AK 99501 800-563-0013 Civil engineering, permitting, and planning; total project management encompassing planning, design, and construction.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1994/1994 | 250/50

C & R PIPE AND STEEL DENNIS WILFER, PRES. 401 E. Van Horn Rd. Fairbanks, AK 99701 crpipeandsteel.com sales@crpipe.net 907-456-8386 C & R Pipe and Steel has the largest selection of low temp. pipe in Alaska. We provide a range of steel and pipe products for any project. For the largest inventory at affordable prices for pipe, aluminum and steel in Alaska think of C & R Pipe.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1992/1992 | 49/49

CARLILE TRANSPORTATION TERRY HOWARD, PRES. 1800 E. First Ave. Anchorage, AK 99501 carlile.biz customerservice@carlile.biz 907-276-7797 Transportation and logistics company offering multi-model trucking as well as project logistics services across Alaska and North America.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1980/1980| 432/320

CATALYST MARINE JOE TOUGAS, PRES./OWNER 1106 Port Ave. Seward, AK 99664 catalyst-marine.com shop@catalyst-marine.com 907-224-2500 Since 2008 Catalyst Marine has provided project management and vessel/fleet support services for clients in all Marine Industries. We have staged equipment in Prudhoe Bay, Kodiak, and Valdez, and a team of ABS and USCG certified welders.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2008/2008 | 28/28

CENTERLINE LOGISTICS/PACIFIC COAST MARITIME PO Box 920086

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

Harbor tug services, rescue and general marine towing, petroleum barge services, freight barge services.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1988/1975 | 700/50

CONAM CONSTRUCTION DALE KISSEE, PRES. 301 W. Northern Lights Blvd., Ste. 300 Anchorage, AK 99503 conamco.com 907-278-6600 General construction contractor specializing in design and construction of oil and gas facilities and pipelines, mining facilities, water and sewer facilities, and other remote infrastructure projects.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1984/1984 | 300/300

CRAIG TAYLOR EQUIPMENT CHRIS DEVINE, PRES./CEO 733 E. Whitney Rd. Anchorage, AK 99501 craigtaylorequipment.com info@cteak.com 907-519-0055 John Deere, Bobcat, Doosan, Honda, Stihl.

Full equipment sales, rentals, service and parts covering all of Alaska. Local experts for all equipment needs.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1954/1954 | 55/55

CROWLEY FUELS RICK MEIDEL, VP/GM 201 Arctic Slope Ave. Anchorage, AK 99518 crowleyfuels.com petroleumservices@crowley.com 866-770-5587 Crowley is a leader in the Alaska fuel industry selling and distributing petroleum products to more than 280 communities across the state.

Crowley serves its customers via 75 million gallons of storage, 160 delivery vehicles, and 7 tug-barge sets.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1892/1953 | 6,300/350

CRUZ CONSTRUCTION DAVE CRUZ, PRES. 7000 E. Palmer Wasilla Hwy. Palmer, AK 99645 cruzconstruct.com 907-746-3144 Experts in resource development and heavy civil construction.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1981/1981 | 250/250

DELTA CONSTRUCTORS ED GOHR, CEO 351 E. 104th Ave. Anchorage, AK 99515 deltaconstructors.net 907-771-5800 Delta Constructors specializes in construction management (estimating, planning, scheduling, and project execution), procurement, fabrication, and self-perform construction in support of the up-stream and mid-stream oil and gas industry.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2007/2007 | 650/220

DELTA RENTAL SERVICES RICK CIRCLE, GM 2630 Van Horn Rd. Fairbanks, AK 99709 deltaindustrial.com Rcircle@deltaindustrial.com www.akbizmag.com

907-457-4577 Rental equipment: backhoes, skid steer, telehandlers, dump truck, water truck, manlift, heaters.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1997/1997 | 70/11

DENALI UNIVERSAL SERVICES THOMAS (BOB) KEAN, PRES./CEO 11500 C St., Ste. 100 Anchorage, AK 99515 denaliuniversal.com 907-522-1300 Operational support including catering, housekeeping, facility maintenance, and security.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1946/1946 | 770/700

DOYON ANVIL TERRY CAETANO, PRES./GM 509 W. Third Ave. Anchorage, AK 99501 doyonanvil.com tcaetano@anvilcorp.com 907-677-3021 Full-service consulting engineering for the petrochemical industry as well specializing in exploration, pre-EIS, and early phase development. Extensive experience in brown field revamp projects.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1984/1984 | 50/50

DOYON ASSOCIATED WARREN CHRISTIAN, PRES. 615 Bidwell Ave., Ste. 100 Fairbanks, AK 99701 907-374-9130 Doyon Associated (DAL) specializes in arctic pipeline construction and associated infrastructure. DAL has an established presence in Alaska with offices in Fairbanks and Anchorage

and shop/yard facilities in Fairbanks and Deadhorse.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2006/2006 | 200/200

DOYON, LIMITED AARON SCHUTT, PRES./CEO 1 Doyon Pl., Ste. 300 Fairbanks, AK 99701 doyon.com communications@doyon.com 888-478-4755 Doyon operates a diverse family of companies in the areas of oil field services, utilities, construction, information technology, natural resource development, tourism, laundry, real estate, and wireless telecommunications.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1972/1972 | 1,046/708

EDISON CHOUEST OFFSHORE GARY CHOUEST, PRES./CEO 301 Calista Ct. Anchorage, AK 99518 chouest.com 907-562-2111 ECO is recognized as the most diverse and dynamic marine transportation solution provider in the world, with world-class shipbuilding and innovative subsea solutions. ECO is a global provider of logistics services, port facilities and vessel support.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1960/2007 | 12,000/110

EVERTS AIR CARGO ROBERT W. EVERTS, PRES./CEO PO Box 61680 Fairbanks, AK 99706 EvertsAir.com Info@EvertsAir.com 907-450-2300

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907-258-2727 August 2020 | 53

INDUSTRIAL SUPPORT SERVICES

Dutch Harbor, AK 99692 centerlinelogistics.com info@centerlinelogistics.com 907-581-1664

INDUSTRIAL SUPPORT SERVICES

Everts Air Cargo provides scheduled cargo service within Alaska (using C-46, DC-6, DC-9 and MD80 aircraft), and On Demand Air Charter Services to domestic and international destinations.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1995/1995 | 339/326

FAIRWEATHER RICK FOX, CEO 301 Calista Ct. Anchorage, AK 99518 fairweather.com 907-346-3247 Fairweather offers highly-specialized services supporting oil and gas, and mining operations.

These services include remote medical and HSE support, drilling program management and support, weather forecasting, bear guards, aviation and airstrip services.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1976/1976 | 140/140

FIVE STAR OILFIELD SERVICES JENNY DICKINSON, OPS MGR. 6407 Brayton Dr., # 204 Anchorage, AK 99507 fivestaroilfieldservices.com jdickinson@fivestaroilfieldservices.com 907-272-9877 Remote catering and camp services.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2002/2002 | 200/200

FLOWLINE ALASKA RICHARD SCHOK, PRES. 1881 Livengood Ave. Fairbanks, AK 99701 907-456-4911 Shop applied corrosion coatings and insulation.

Fabrication services.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1982/1982 | ~50/~50

FOUNDEX PACIFIC HOWARD J. GREY, MGR. 2261 Cinnabar Lp. Anchorage, AK 99507 Foundex.com HGrey@Foundex.com 907-522-8263 Provide geotechnical and environmental drilling services. Equipped for drilling with air and mud rotary, sonic, coring, and auger tools. Some of our equipment is specially designed for helicopter support. This year we added a jack-up rig.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1983/1983 | 80/25

FRAWNER CORPORATION JAY FRAWNER, PRES. 8123 Hartzell Rd. Anchorage, AK 99507 907-561-4044 General contractor including building construction, remodel, HVAC systems, sewer, water, and storm systems.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2000/2005 | 48/45

GOLDER ASSOCIATES JEREMIAH DRAGE, SR. CONSULTANT/GROUP LEADER 2121 Abbott Rd., Ste. 100 Anchorage, AK 99507 907-344-6001 Arctic and geotechnical engineering, groundwater resource development, environmental sciences, and remedial investigation.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

nolan@habervision.com 303-459-2220 Habersafety.com is an innovative leader in Safety Eyewear. The first and only patented UL Intrinsically Safe Auto No Fog Fan technology is in our Safety Fan Goggles, and chemical splash Fan Goggles.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2005/2005 | 4/0

HAWK CONSULTANTS CHUCK HEATH, GM 3201 C St., Ste. 406 Anchorage, AK 99503 hawkpros.com chuck@hawkpros.com 907-278-1877 Serving the energy industry with honor and distinction since 1985. Hawk provides professional staffing and inspection services to our clients in Alaska and throughout North America.

Lynden Air Cargo provides scheduled yearround service from Anchorage to Bethel, Nome, Kotzebue, and St. Mary's and flag stop service to any Alaska community with a runway. We also offer worldwide charter services with our fleet of Hercules aircraft.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1996/1996 | 211/211

LYNDEN INTERNATIONAL JOHN KALOPER, PRES. 6441 S. Airpark Pl. Anchorage, AK 99502 lynden.com/lint information@lynden.com 907-243-6150 Domestic and international freight forwarding and customs services.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1985/1985 | 213/61

1980/1980 | 224/55

HIGH TIDE ENVIRONMENTAL CHRIS HOFFMAN, OWNER 180 E. Hygrade Ln. Wasilla, AK 99654 hightidealaska.com Chris@hightidealaska.com 907-354-3132

LYNDEN LOGISTICS ALEX MCKALLOR, PRES. 6520 Kulis Dr. Anchorage, AK 99502 lynden.com/llog information@lynden.com 907-245-1544

We provide marine mammal and bird observers during construction (IHA) and environmental permitting (ESA, MMPA, NEPA) in Alaska focused on protected species and noise impacts.

Specializing in short notice problem solving and compliance.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2010/2010 | 2/2

KASSBOHRER ALL TERRAIN VEHICLES DENNIS MCGIBONEY, VP SALES/MKTG. 18460 SW 126th Pl. Tualatin, OR 97062 pistenbullyusa.com contact@pistenbullyusa.com 503-783-1935 PistenBully tracked utility vehicles and PowerBully tracked carriers. Up to 520 horsepower. Up to 18ton payload. Ice road construction, snow removal, equipment transport, pull heavy sleds, personnel cabins, special use.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1969/1985 | 75/0

KIEWIT INFRASTRUCTURE WEST CO. PAT HARRISON, EXEC. AREA MGR. 2000 W. International Airport Rd., #C6 Anchorage, AK 99502 kiewit.com 907-222-9350 Heavy civil construction including transportation, marine, dams, and resource development.

Arrangement of freight transportation, information management, and logistical services.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1984/1984 | 13/4

LYNDEN OILFIELD SERVICES ERIC BADGER, PRES. 1048 Whitney Rd. Anchorage, AK 99501 lynden.com/loil information@lynden.com 907-339-5100 Lynden Oilfield Services, a division of Alaska West Express, provides support for exploration, production, and service companies on the North Slope working to develop Alaska's oil and gas resources.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2015/2015 | 30/30

LYNDEN TRANSPORT PAUL GRIMALDI, PRES. 3027 Rampart Dr. Anchorage, AK 99501 lynden.com/ltia information@lynden.com 907-276-4800 Lynden Transport has been the trusted leader for shipping freight to, from and within Alaska since 1954 .

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1954/1954 | 251/125

1884/1947 | 18,000/50-100

MAGTEC ALASKA RYAN PETERKIN, PRES. 43385 Kenai Spur Hwy. Kenai, AK 99611 907-335-6305

LOUNSBURY & ASSOCIATES TOM ADAMS, PRES. 5300 A St. Anchorage, AK 99518 lounsburyinc.com info@lounsburyinc.com 907-272-5451 Civil engineering, land surveying, planning, construction management. Servicing local and state government, oil and gas industry, and private development. Offices in Anchorage, Wasilla, Fairbanks, and Kuparuk.

1960/1980 | 7,500/26

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

HABER SAFETY BILL NOLAN, CO-FOUNDER 15710 W. Colfax Ave., #204 Golden, CO 80401 Habersafety.com

1949/1949 | 52/47

54 | August 2020

lynden.com/lac information@lynden.com 907-243-7248

LYNDEN AIR CARGO RICK ZERKEL, PRES. 6441 S. Airpark Pl. Anchorage, AK 99502

Oilfield equipment rental and project support.

Logistic service, North Slope camps, equipment sales and service. Based in Kenai with a camp and service center in Deadhorse .

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2008/2008 | 76/70

MARINE CONTAINER SOLUTIONS TODD SHIRLEY, OWNER/COO PO Box 407 Seahurst, WA 98062 marinecontainersolutions.com Todd@marinecontainersolutions.com 206-499-0474 Cargo container sales (new-used-custom-related

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

equipment) and leasing .

2011/2011 | 1/1

MARITIME HELICOPTERS ROBERT FELL, DIR. OPS 3520 FAA Rd. Homer, AK 99603 maritimehelicopters.com info@maritimehelicopters.com 907-235-7771 We support oil, construction, and marine trades.

Our fleet includes a Viking 400 Twin Otter, Bell 206L, 407 and twin-engine 412HP and BO105 Eurocopters. Our 86-foot, helipad-equipped vessel supports remote marine operations. Bases throughout all of Alaska .

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1973/1973 | 75/75

MICHAEL BAKER INTERNATIONAL JEFF BAKER, SR. VP/AK OPS MGR. 3900 C St., Ste. 900 Anchorage, AK 99503 mbakerintl.com 907-273-1600

info@nordic-calista.com 907-561-7458 Rotary drilling, workovers, completions, coiled tubing drilling, remote camp leasing, and catering services .

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1982/1982 |80/80

NORTH WIND GROUP CHRISTOPHER LEICHTWEIS, CEO/PRES. 2525 C St., Ste. 130 Anchorage, AK 99503 northwindgrp.com 907-290-8222 Design-build; construction; environmental investigation, restoration, remediation; engineering; natural and cultural resources; GIS services; demolition; waste management; regulatory support; mine reclamation; facilities management; operations and maintenance .

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1997/1997 | 1,160/70

NORTHERN AIR CARGO BETSY SEATON, PRES./CEO 4510 Old International Airport Rd. Anchorage, AK 99502 nac.aero 907-249-5163 Anchorage-based Northern Air Cargo is Alaska’s largest all-cargo airline. From groceries to medical supplies and lumber, customers across Alaska, including an array of industries such as oil, gas, mining and construction, depend on NAC .

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1956/1956 | 356/298

NORTHSTAR SUPPLY RICHELL CARMICHAEL, OWNER PO Box 3637

Engineering: transportation, pipeline, geotechnical, mechanical, civil; GIS and LiDAR; environmental/permitting/NEPA; public involvement .

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1940/1942 | 3,510/45

N C MACHINERY JOHN J. HARNISH, CEO 6450 Arctic Blvd.

Anchorage, AK 99518 ncmachinery.com 907-786-7500 Cat machine sales, parts, service, and rental. Cat engines for marine, power generation, truck, petroleum, and industrial applications. Sales and rental of Cat and other preferred brands of rental equipment and construction supplies .

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1926/1926 | 1,022/190

NANA CONSTRUCTION FRED S. ELVSAAS JR., GM PO Box 520788 Big Lake, AK 99652 nanaconstruction.com info@nanaconstruction.com 907-892-3383 Specializing in industrial and commercial fabrication and installation, camp design, constructability support and longevity services.

Full-service general contractor safely providing core services to Alaska’s mining and oil and gas industries .

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2008/2008 | 320/320

NANA WORLEY WYCHE FORD, PRES. 3700 Centerpoint Dr., 7th Fl. Anchorage, AK 99503 nanaworleyparsons.com info@nanaworleyparsons.com 907-273-3900 NANA Worley provides multi-discipline engineering and design, project management, procurement, project controls, and construction management for various industries including the hydrocarbons, mining infrastructure, and power industries .

KEEPING ALASKA CONNECTED It takes incredible people to keep today’s supply chain moving. As Alaska’s tug and barge company, Cook Inlet Tug & Barge is proud of the people who work hard every day to provide safe and timely services that keep Alaska connected. www.cookinlettug.com

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1997/1997 | 200/200

NORDIC-CALISTA SERVICES UDO CASSEE, GM 219 E. International Airport Rd., Ste. 200 Anchorage, AK 99518 nordic-calista.com www.akbizmag.com

Alaska Business

August 2020 | 55

INDUSTRIAL SUPPORT SERVICES

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

INDUSTRIAL SUPPORT SERVICES

Palmer, AK 99645 nssalaska.com info@nssalaska.com 907-357-1147 Alaska's premier supplier of industrial construction materials specializing in calcium chloride, drilling fluids, geotextiles, erosion control, and dust control products. We are a local, woman owned company in Palmer .

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2017/2017 | 4/4

OCEAN MARINE SERVICES KELLY MCNEIL, PRES. PO Box 7070 Nikiski, AK 99635 omsi-ak.com 907-776-3685 A marine transportation and logistical support company with offshore supply vessels, research vessels, and a landing craft. Area of operation is from the Beaufort Sea to the Gulf of Mexico .

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1982/1982 | 50/45

ODYSSEY LOGISTICS KEITH HANCOCK, PRES. MULTI-MODAL GLOBAL SOLUTIONS 5025 Van Buren St. Anchorage, AK 99517 odysseylogistics.com 907-248-5548 Ocean freight forwarding, freight consolidation of all kinds, LTL/LCL, full loads and single shipments, temperature protected, dry vans, specialized equipment, heavy haul, project logistics, intrastate trucking, warehousing, and distribution.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1984/1988 | 2,500/400

OFFSHORE SYSTEMS - KENAI KELLY MCNEIL, PRES. PO Box 8505 Nikiski, AK 99635 osk-ak.com 907-776-5551 A full-service marine terminal facility supporting Cook Inlet oil and gas operators. Providing shoreside services for OSV's, landing crafts, tug and barge operators, dive support vessels and others.

Nikiski Fuel provides bulk diesel fuel.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1983/1983 | 25/20

ORION MARINE GROUP DAVID BANKE, DIR. OPS 740 Bonanza Ave. Anchorage, AK 99518 orionmarinegroup.com dbanke@orionmarinegroup.com 907-561-9811 Orion Marine Contractor's, Inc. specializes in marine infrastructure and heavy civil and hydro dam construction, dredging, quarry operations, mining, pile driving, and breakwater construction.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1994/2012 | 100/15

OXFORD ASSAYING & REFINING CORP. GENE E POOL, CFO 3406 Arctic Blvd.

Anchorage, AK 99503 oxfordmetals.com gene@oxfordmetals.com 907-561-5237 Oxford is proud to be the only gold refiner and bullion dealer with two locations in Alaska for more than 40 years. Buying, selling, or trading– Oxford provides the service, value, honesty, and integrity that Alaskans have counted on for generations.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1980/1980 | 5/4

56 | August 2020

PACIFIC ALASKA LUMBER COMPANY VINT JONES, PRES. 9810 40th Ave. SW, Ste. C Lakewood, WA 98499 pacaklumber.com sales@pacaklumber.com 907-341-3500 Suppliers of construction and specialty products.

Serving all industries in AK. All grades and species of lumber/timber/ply/panels, treatment, EWP, GLB, metal, SIP, GEO, rigid foam, GWB, helical piers, HM doors/ frames /hardware. Matting solutions.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2007/2007 | 4/1

PATHFINDER AVIATION ROGAN PARKER, CEO 1936 Merrill Field Dr. Anchorage, AK 99501 pathfinderaviation.com info@pathfinderaviation.com 907-257-1550 Pathfinder Aviation supports petroleum, utility, survey, and various other industries utilizing twinengine Bell 212/412s, an EC135 and single engine AS350 B2 and B3, Bell 206 series helicopters with OAS-approved pilots and aircraft.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2001/2001 | 64/64

PCE PACIFIC SCOTT DAVIS, VP SALES 4730 Business Park Blvd., Ste. H-18 Anchorage, AK 99503 PCEpacific.com pcepacific@pcepacific.com 907-243-3833 EMERSON-DeltaV control system, SIS systems and SIL instrumentation, Fisher valves, Anderson Greenwood and Crosby safety relief valves, Rosemount Instrumentation, MicroMotion flow meters, wireless devices and systems.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1983/1983 | 130/8

PETROLEUM EQUIPMENT & SERVICES KEVIN DURLING, PRES. 5631 Silverado Way, Unit G Anchorage, AK 99518 pesiak.com sales@pesiak.com 907-248-0066 We are in the business of supplying specialty products in the Alaska oil and gas market.

Representing the following: Halliburton Bits, Sprung Engineered Structures, Cortec corrosion control, Innovex cementation products, and Stream-Flo well heads.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

General civil, structural, geotechnical, marine, arctic, and coastal engineering; surveying; sanitary/wastewater; permitting; hydrology; metocean; quality assurance; inspection; construction engineering; site remediation; value engineering.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1979/1979 | 116/86

PRICE GREGORY INTERNATIONAL ROBERT STINSON, SR. VP AK DIVISION 301 W. Northern Lights Blvd., Ste. 300 Anchorage, AK 99503 pricegregory.com 907-278-4400 Pipeline, power, heavy industrial construction, EPC, and consulting services. Infrastructure construction services provider.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1974/1974 | 3,500/150

PRL LOGISTICS RON HYDE, PRES./CEO PO Box 222029 Anchorage, AK 99522 PRLLogistics.com info@pacrimlog.com 907-261-9440 PRL is an Alaska-owned business delivering innovative, cost-efficient logistics solutions for people and materials. We have a strong HSSE excellence culture. Services include logistics planning, transportation services, camps, and field support.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2002/2002 | 15/15

PRODUCTION TESTING SERVICES ROBERT HOFF JR., PRES. 440 E. 100th Ave. Anchorage, AK 99515 pts-technology.com info@ptssite.com 907-344-2024 Well testing, drill stem test-DST, frac flowback services, subsea test trees/subsea intervention landing strings, early production facilities, long term testing, production rental equipment.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1988/1988 | 70/25

RAIN FOR RENT PAUL HARRINGTON, COO PO Box 1931 Kenai, AK 99611 rainforrent.com rharris@rainforrent.com 907-283-4487 Pump, tank, pipe, filtration solutions for environmental, construction, and oilfield operations.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1983/1983 | 22/22

PETROTECHNICAL RESOURCES OF ALASKA TOM WALSH, MNG. PARTNER 3601 C St., Suite 1424 Anchorage, AK 99503 petroak.com info@petroak.com 907-272-1232 Alaska's oil and gas consultants specializing in geoscience, engineering, project management, seismic, and well data.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1997/1997 | 60+/60+

PND ENGINEERS JIM CAMPBELL, PRES. 1506 W. 36th Ave. Anchorage, AK 99503 pndengineers.com reception@pndengineers.com 907-561-1011

1934/2002 | 2,000/4

ROSS AVIATION LAURA CHARON, GM 6160 Carl Brady Dr. Anchorage, AK 99502 rossaviation.com 907-550-8500 We’re Alaska’s 24 hour, full service FBO with fuel, aircraft support, crew resting facilities, and business services.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2016/2016 | 35/35

ROTAK HELICOPTER SERVICES ELY WOODS, GM 5014 Captain Hill Ct. Anchorage, AK 99502 rotakheli.com ely@rotakheli.com 907-302-4113 ROTAK offers aerial support for external load, remote tower support, mining support, powerline

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2016/2016 | 32/23

SCHLUMBERGER OILFIELD SERVICES NATHAN ROSE, MNG. DIR. AK 6411 A St. Anchorage, AK 99518 slb.com 907-273-1700 Schlumberger is the world's leading provider of technology for reservoir characterization, drilling, production, and processing to the oil and gas industry.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1927/1956 | 100,000/540

SECURITY AVIATION STEPHEN "JOE" KAPPER, PRES. 6121 S. Airpark Pl. Anchorage, AK 99502 securityaviation.biz sales@securityaviation.biz 907-248-2677 24/7 on-demand air charter. Approved carrier for the Corps of Engineers, state, and federal agencies. Executive travel, crew changes, HAZMAT, "HOT" cargo, and medical transports.

including automation/energy management control systems, fire alarm, HVAC mechanical systems, security (card access, CCTV, intrusion, etc.), mass notification systems, and electrical distribution.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1849/1982 | 351,000/90

STG INCORPORATED BRENNAN WALSH, PRES. 11710 S. Gambell St. Anchorage, AK 99515 stgincorporated.com dmyers@stgincorporated.com 907-644-4664 Rural infrastructure construction, innovative arctic construction solutions, renewable energy systems, tower construction, power generation and distribution facilities, pile foundations, bulk-fuel systems, waterfront projects, and

telecommunications.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1991/1991 | 110/110

TAKU ENGINEERING WILLIAM MOTT, GM 406 W. Fireweed Ln. Anchorage, AK 99503 takuengineering.com billmott@takuengineering.com 907-562-1247 Taku Engineering is an Alaskan-owned and operated multi-discipline engineering firm dedicated to providing innovative engineering and corrosion control design solutions.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2001/2001 | 15/15

TRANSGROUP GLOBAL LOGISTICS RICH WILSON, STATION MGR. 5631 Silverado Way, #G-101

PROJECT MANAGEMENT • PROCUREMENT • FABRICATION CONSTRUCTION • MAINTENANCE • COMMISSIONING

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1985/1985 | 25/25

SEEKINS FORD LINCOLN RALPH SEEKINS, PRES. 1625 Seekins Ford Dr. Fairbanks, AK 99701 seekins.com sales@seekins.com 907-459-4000

Investing in Alaska’s Future

Automotive sales, fleet, service, parts, quick lane tire and auto center, finance, and body shop.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1977/1977 | 100/100

SHANNON & WILSON KYLE BRENNAN, ANCHORAGE OFFICE MGR. VP 5430 Fairbanks St., Ste. 3 Anchorage, AK 99518 shannonwilson.com info-anchorage@shanwil.com 907-561-2120 Offices in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Palmer, and the Lower 48. Geotechnical and environmental engineering expertise for energy/power projects including oil & gas refineries, pipelines, power plants, transmission lines, wind farms, hydroelectric facilities.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

Serving our Industries in Oil & Gas, Mining, and Renewables

1954/1974 | 300/50

SHORESIDE PETROLEUM KURT LINDSEY, PRES. 1813 E. First Ave. Anchorage, AK 99501 shoresidepetroleum.com info@shoresidepetroleum.com 907-344-4571 Shoreside Petroleum is 100% Alaskan-owned fuel and lubricants distributor marketing fuels, lubricants, and other petroleum products in Alaska. Shoreside operates physical terminals in Anchorage, Cordova, Seward, Wasilla, and Whittier.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1986/1986 | 145/145

SIEMENS INDUSTRY DAN HART, GM AK/HI 5333 Fairbanks St., Unit B Anchorage, AK 99518 usa.siemens.com daniel.hart@siemens.com 907-563-2242

351 E 104th Ave, Anchorage Alaska (907) 771-5800 DELTACONSTRUCTORS.NET

Energy services company and system integrator,

www.akbizmag.com

Alaska Business

August 2020 | 57

INDUSTRIAL SUPPORT SERVICES

construction, oil and gas support, and disaster relief.

INDUSTRIAL SUPPORT SERVICES

Anchorage, AK 99518 transgroup.com richw.anc@transgroup.com 907-243-4345 US-owned full-service freight forwarder and global logistics provider. We provide transportation international and domestic lanes, warehousing, and specialized logistics solutions.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1987/2011 | 3,300/4

TRANSMARK CARTAGE SERVICES KEN MACCABEE, OPS SUPERVISOR 6200 Boeing Ave., Ste. 350 Anchorage, AK 99502 tcsdelivers.com ANC@tcsdelivers.com 907-351-2328 TCS is your full-service cartage company offering an array of services: white glove service, cargo screening, 53', 24', flatbed, and vans, TSA/STA compliant, cold chain services, military deliveries.

UICAlaska.com don.gray@UICCS.com 907-677-8220 UIC Oil & Gas Support is a professional oilfield service subsidiary of Ukpeaġvik Iñupiat Corporation specializing in Alaska Arctic oilfield operation support services.

UMIAQ ENVIRONMENTAL TERRI MITCHELL, GM 6700 Arctic Spur Rd. Anchorage, AK 99518 uicalaska.com Terri.Mitchell@UICCS.com 907-677-5208 UMIAQ Environmental services include natural resource management, permitting, regulatory compliance support, stakeholder relations, spill response planning, and contaminated site cleanup. State of Alaska DBE and SBA 8(a) certified.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2016/2016 | 11/11

TRI-JET PRECISION CUTTING SERVICES DANIELLE DAVIS, GM 1960 S. Eklutna St. Palmer, AK 99645 trijetprecision.com accounting@trijetprecision.com 866-607-1653

VIGOR ALASKA BERGAN WIELER, GM 3801 Tongass Ave. Ketchikan, AK 99901 vigor.net shiprepair@vigor.net 907-225-7199

2004/2004 | 15/15

TTT ENVIRONMENTAL INSTRUMENTS & SUPPLIES DEBORAH TOMPKINS, OWNER 4201 B St. Anchorage, AK 99503 tttenviro.com info@tttenviro.com 907-770-9041 Portable gas detection, health and safety monitoring, environmental equipment. Rentals, sales, service, and supplies. Warranty center.

Alaskan-owned small business.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2003/2003 | 11/9

TUTKA AMIE SOMMER, MEMBER 2485 E. Zak Cir., Ste. A Wasilla, AK 99654 tutkallc.com amie@tutkallc.com 907-357-2238 Heavy Civil General Contractor (roads, bridges, culverts, site work), environmental cleanup and consulting. WBE/DBE, WOSB, HUBZone.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1999/1999 | 30/30

UDELHOVEN OILFIELD SYSTEM SERVICES JIM UDELHOVEN, CEO 184 E. 53rd Ave. Anchorage, AK 99518 udelhoven.com jfronteras@udelhoven.com 907-344-1577 Commercial, industrial, and oil and gas construction, process piping, FCO, commissioning, industrial and modular fabrication, mechanical/electrical inspection.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1970/1970 | 368/351

UIC OIL & GAS SUPPORT DON GRAY, GM 6700 Arctic Spur Rd. Anchorage, AK 99518 58 | August 2020

1962/1962 | 60,000/900

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2005/2005 | 10/10

1990/2017 | 150/4

Waterjet cutting, ceramic coating, welding and fabrication, machining—including 5-axis, 3D modeling, and drafting.

including full brownfield services, sustaining capital projects, TARs/shutdowns, asset operations, maintenance builds and execution, commissioning/decommissioning.

Vigor is a values-driven, diversified industrial business. We repair ships and build projects in support of energy generation, our nation’s infrastructure, national defense, and the maritime industry.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1994/1994 | 2,300/150

WEST-MARK SERVICE CENTERFAIRBANKS SCOTT VINCENT, CEO 3050 Van Horn Rd. Fairbanks, AK 99709 907-451-8265 Liquid transportation tank trailer repair.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1967/2009 | 236/12

WILLIAMS SCOTSMAN CRAIG PESTER, GM 440 S. Sylvan Rd. Wasilla, AK 99623 willscot.com 907-562-1000 Workforce camps, remote accommodations, mobile office, office and modular solutions.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1963/1993 | 2,000+/5

WOLSELEY INDUSTRIAL GROUP MARK KING, AREA MGR. AK 151 W. 95th Cir. Anchorage, AK 99515 wolseleyindustrialgroup.com Karl.Greninger@WolseleyInd.com 907-273-2100 Wolseley Industrial Group provides PVF materials in every Alaska market. Locations in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Soldotna, and Wasilla. We are the only ISO9001:2015 certified PVF supply house in the State of Alaska. Full time Quality Assurance provided.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1950/1981 | 27,000/89

WORLEY JEFF DOYLE, VP ARCTIC REGION 949 E. 36th Ave., Ste. 500 Anchorage, AK 99508 worley.com 907-275-5100 Full life-cycle engineering, procurement, fabrication, construction (EPC) and O&M,

DATA, TESTING, TELECOM & IMAGING CIS CARDOSO INTEGRATED SECURITY THOMAS CRAIG, SECURITY CONSULTANT/ OWNER 220 Center Ct. Anchorage, AK 99518 cisalaska.com info@cisalaska.com 907-276-2776 Camera systems, monitored alarm systems, building integration, access control, gate controllers, locksmith services, surveillance trailers, proactive video monitoring, and GSA Locksmith Services.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2014/2014 | 8/8

GCI RON DUNCAN, CEO 2550 Denali St., Ste. 1000 Anchorage, AK 99503 gci.com 907-265-5600 GCI delivers communication and technology services in the consumer and business markets.

GCI has delivered services in Alaska for 40 years to some of the most remote communities and in some of the most challenging conditions in North America.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1979/1979 | 2,000/2,000

GEOTEK ALASKA CHRISTOPHER NETTELS, PRES. PO Box 141007 Anchorage, AK 99514 geotekalaska.com ksmith@geotekalaska.com 907-569-5900 We specialize in the acquisition of subsurface data for both the environmental and geotechnical professional communities. If your needs involve the characterization of the subsurface we offer drilling, UVOST, utility clearance, GPR, please call.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2002/2002 | 20/20

IMMERSIVE GEOMATICS SOLUTIONS KENN KADOW, PRINCIPLE 3400 Knik Ave. Anchorage, AK 99517 immersivegeomaticssolutions.com kkadow@immersivegeomaticssolutions.com 907-279-4000 Geo-spatial route and facility mapping using 360 degree cameras.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2004/2004 | 11/2

JUDY PATRICK PHOTOGRAPHY JUDY PATRICK, OWNER/PHOTOGRAPHER 511 W. 41st Ave., Ste. 101 Anchorage, AK 99503 judypatrickphotography.com judy@judypatrickphotography.com 907-223-4704 Creative photography for oil and gas, mining, construction and transportation companies. We also specialize in location business portraits and headshots. Call for an estimate and see how good we can make you look!

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1984/1984 | 2/2

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

INDUSTRIAL SUPPORT SERVICES

LEONARDO DRS VICKIE KELLY, BUS. DEV. MGR. AK 310 K St., Ste. 200 Anchorage, AK 99501 leonardodrs.com/ges GESinfo@drs.com 1-800-330-0784 Ext. 8620 Resilient fiber-optic, microwave, and satellite networks, broadband internet, 24/7/365 network operations, cyber security, IT services, video teleconferencing, VoIP, VPN, field service, and full life-cycle sustainment. Serving remote Alaska locations.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1968/2002 | 6,470/23

NORTH SLOPE TELECOM WILLIAM LAXSON, PRES. 2020 E. Dowling Rd., Ste. 3 Anchorage, AK 99507 nstiak.com info@nstiak.com 907-751-8200 Alaska's largest Motorola Dealership, we specialize in getting teams communicating. Whether that be on the North Slope or in town, let us help your teams increase efficiency and safety via RF communications.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1980/1980 | 51/50

QUANTUM SPATIAL ADAM MCCULLOUGH, AK PROGRAM MGR. 2014 Merrill Field Dr. Anchorage, AK 99501 907-272-4495 Quantum Spatial's comprehensive capabilities encompass the acquisition, analysis, integration, and management of geospatial data. We offer a diverse portfolio of advanced imaging and remote sensing technologies.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1960/1960 | 570/25

QUINTILLION GEORGE TRONSRUE III, CEO INTERIM 201 E. 56th Ave., Ste. 300 Anchorage, AK 99518 qexpressnet.com info@qexpressnet.com 1-800-673-4394 Private operator selling wholesale dedicated capacity on Arctic fiber optic cable system bringing true high speed internet to the Arctic at rates 50% to 90% less than current backhaul options.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2012/2012 | 11/11

RESOURCE DATA JIM ROGERS, PRES. 560 E. 34th Ave., Ste. 100 Anchorage, AK 99503 resourcedata.com info@resourcedata.com 907-563-8100 Resource Data offers data analysis and management, GIS, and custom software development. Since 1986 we’ve implemented thoughtful IT solutions for most of Alaska’s major industries including government, natural resources, utilities, tourism, and more.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1986/1986 | 192/116

ENVIRONMENTAL, CONSULTING & EMERGENCY RESPONSE ALASKA CHADUX CORPORATION BUDDY CUSTARD, GM 2347 Azurite Ct. www.akbizmag.com

Alaska Business

August 2020 | 59

INDUSTRIAL SUPPORT SERVICES

Anchorage, AK 99507 chadux.com info@chadux.com 907-348-2365 Alaska Chadux Corporation is a member-funded, 501(c)(4) nonprofit oil spill response organization headquartered in Anchorage. Chadux is classified as an OSRO by the USCG and registered as a PRAC and an NTVCC with the State of Alaska.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1993/1993 | 14/14

ALASKA CLEAN TANKS ROBERT WILSON, PRES./OWNER PO Box 60415 Fairbanks, AK 99706 alaskacleantanks.com bobwilson@alaskacleantanks.com 907-385-3975 Commercial–Residential UST/AST fuel tank cleaning, purging; decommissioning; hazardous and non hazardous waste disposal; fuel polishing and maintenance (mission critical testing and treating of stored/back-up emergency fuel). Vac truck services.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2013/2013 | 4/4

ANALYTICAL CONSULTING GROUP MATT EDMAN, PRES./CEO 3800 Centerpoint Dr., Ste. 202 Anchorage, AK 99503 acgworkforce.com info@acgworkforce.com 907-339-3900 Time and labor, HR, and payroll (workforce management) software sales, implementation, training and support. Payroll processing services and accounting consulting services.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2009/2012 | 7/7

ARCTIC DATA SERVICES RODNEY GURITZ, OWNER/PRINCIPAL CHEMIST 302 Cushman St., Ste. 203 Fairbanks, AK 99709 arcticdataservices.com rodney@arcticdataservices.com 907-457-3147 ADS provides a broad range of environmental services in the Interior, from spill response to contaminated site characterization and cleanup.

With expertise in chemistry, we also serve as third-party data quality consultants for projects across the US. Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2014/2014 | 2/2

COOK INLET TUG & BARGE JEFF JOHNSON, PRES. 4510 Old International Airport Rd., Ste. 101 Anchorage, AK 99502 cookinlettug.com info@cookinlettug.com 907-277-7611 Cook Inlet Tug & Barge is a marine transportation company, specializing in harbor services and fuel distribution, with focus on the Port of Anchorage and Cook Inlet, Seward, Southeast Alaska, Aleutian Islands, and Western Alaska and Prudhoe Bay. Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1924/1924 | 70/70

EEIS CONSULTING ENGINEERS RICHARD BUTTON, PRINCIPAL ENGINEER 624 W. International Airport Rd., Ste. 104 Anchorage, AK 99518 eeis.net 907-258-3231 Architectural services, structural, civil, mechanical, mechanical process, electrical, and instrumentation engineering. Projects include camps, office buildings, warehouses, hangars, and various projects for rig and production support.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1989/1989 | 17/17

60 | August 2020

LIFEMED ALASKA RUSS EDWARDS, CEO PO Box 190026 Anchorage, AK 99519 lifemedalaska.com info@lifemedalaska.com 907-563-6633 Your Alaska Owned Medevac Company. Statewide air ambulance services with bases in Anchorage, Bethel, Fairbanks, Juneau, Palmer, and Soldotna, Dutch Harbor, and Kodiak. Anchorage-based ALS ground ambulance services. CAMTS Accredited.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2008/2008 | 135/135

NRC ALASKA, A US ECOLOGY COMPANY BLAKE HILLIS, SR. VP NRC AK 425 Outer Springer Lp. Rd. Palmer, AK 99645 usecology.com info@nrcc.com 907-258-1558 Emergency spill response, hazardous/non-hazardous waste disposal, petroleum product recycling, industrial cleaning services, vacuum truck services, glycol recovery and sales, thermal soil remediation, Valvoline products, Alaska made automotive fluids.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2014/2014 | 5,000/100

PACIFIC ENVIRONMENTAL CORP (PENCO) JOSHUA SCHWEMLEY, AK AREA MGR. 6000 A St. Anchorage, AK 99518 penco.org alaskaareamgr@penco.org 907-440-7385 Pacific Environmental Corporation (PENCO) specializes in land and marine spill response, environmental cleanup and remediation. PENCO's array of environmental services includes supplying teams of 40 Hour HAZWOPER trained spill response technicians.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1985/1994 | 135/60

RESOLVE MARINE SERVICES ALASKA AW MCAFFEE, GM 6231 Airpark Pl. Anchorage, AK 99502 resolvemarine.com tduke@resolvemarine.com 907-243-0069 Marine salvage, emergency towing and vessel repair, commercial diving, oil spill response, and charter aviation for passengers and cargo.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1980/2013 | 500/50

WASTE MANAGEMENT NATIONAL SERVICES MIKE HOLZSCHUH, SR. TERRITORY MGR. 1519 Ship Ave. Anchorage, AK 99501 wm.com mholzschuh@wm.com 907-274-0477 Hazardous and nonhazardous waste disposal, project management, complete logistical oversight, complete US and Canadian manifesting, rail transportation, over-the-road transportation, marine transportation, and turnkey remedial services.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1971/1971 | 43,000/5

EQUIPMENT, PARTS & SUPPLIES ADVANCED SUPPLY CHAIN INTERNATIONAL CHRISTINE HOPKINS, PRES./CEO

2525 Gambell St., Ste. 405 Anchorage, AK 99503 ascillc.com sales@ascillc.com 907-345-2724 Provide supply chain management services specialized in asset intensive industries (oil and gas, mining, energy, utilities, among others). This includes managed services and BPO solutions.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1999/1999 | 125/90

AIRGAS, AN AIR LIQUIDE COMPANY BRIAN BENSON, AREA VP 6415 Arctic Blvd.

Anchorage, AK 99518 airgas.com douglas.hokanson@airgas.com 907-562-2080 Airgas-an industrial supplier with 65 years of experience in the state. Gas-bulk or packaged, machines-sales, rent, or repair, welding consumables, or safety; we know Alaska and can help get your project delivered on time and under budget.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1902/1955 | 66,000/62

BRENNTAG PACIFIC CHRISTIAN KOHLPAINTER, CEO 4199 S. Lathrop St. Fairbanks, AK 99701 brenntag.com jshort@brenntag.com 907-952-4075 Safety is our number one priority. Brenntag is a founding member of the National Association of Chemical Distributors (NACD). We are ISO certified and have operated in the State of Alaska for more than thirty years.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1874/1990 | 17,000+/13-26

CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY INDUSTRIAL KEN GERONDALE, PRES./CEO 5400 Homer Dr. Anchorage, AK 99518 cmiak.com facebook.com/CMILLC 907-563-3822 Construction and mining equipment sales, rentals, service, and parts.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1985/1985 | 101/101

DELTA LEASING RUDI VON IMHOF, PRES. 8101 Dimond Hook Dr. Anchorage, AK 99507 deltaleasing.com info@deltaleasing.com 907-771-1300 Specialized leasing of fleet trucks, SUVs, vans, and buses; as well as, oil/gas support, construction and mining equipment. GM, Dodge, Ford and International warranty center. Alaskan-owned.

Deadline driven. Results oriented. ANC/FAI/Prudhoe.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2002/2002 | 90/90

DOWLAND-BACH CORPORATION TONY DEHAVEN, VP OPS PO Box 230126 Anchorage, AK 99523 dowlandbach.com sales@dowlandbach.com 907-562-5818 Wellhead control panels, NRTL/UL listed industrial control panels, chemical injection, and explosion proof equipment. Portable habitats, automation services/systems integration. Stainless steel tubing, pipe, fittings, flanges, and custom fabrication.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1975/1975 | 21/21

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

construction, construction offices, industrial facilities, laboratories, field offices, dormitory buildings, office buildings, urban housing, shower and locker room facilities, medical facilities.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1995/2005 | 30/6

ESI designs, develops and builds quality, innovative worksite products for the oil, mining, construction, and ag industries. All of our products are Built Arctic Tough, designed to last, and tested in harsh environments. Alaska's Kubota and JCB Dealer.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

2000/2000 | 45/40

LIFEWATER ENGINEERING COMPANY BOB TSIGONIS, PRES. 1963 Donald Ave. Fairbanks, AK 99701 LifewaterEngineering.com Info@lifewaterengineering.com 907-458-7024 Custom fabrication of welded plastic tanks, boats, and other products including sewage treatment plants for man camps, homes, and lodges, Our systems work where others do not.

For Rough Duty Boats, welded plastic boats, visit www.Class5Boatworks.com.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1998/1998 | 10/10

MODULAR TRANSPORTABLE HOUSING STACY STOLTENOW, VP 3116 Commercial Dr. Anchorage, AK 99501 mthousing.net office@mthousing.net 877-929-9902 Remote housing for mining, logging,

MATERIAL FLOW

AND CONVEYOR SYSTEMS INC. 6112 Petersburg St. Anchorage, AK 99507

1969/1969 | 15/15

Paramount Supply Company is an industrial wholesaler founded in 1954 by John Hagen.

Paramount quickly built its reputation with quality products and exceptional service. That tradition literally began out of the trunk of the founders car continues today.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1954/1982 | 1,450/4-5

Alaska's largest supplier of pipe, valves, and fittings to Alaska's oil and gas markets. Two locations in Alaska: Anchorage and Kenai.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1917/1984 | 175/31

SURVEYORS EXCHANGE CO. DAVID LARRY WILMARTH, OWNER 3630 Springer St. Anchorage, AK 99503

YUKON EQUIPMENT CHARLES KLEVER, PRES. 2020 E. Third Ave. Anchorage, AK 99501 yukoneq.com Info@yukoneq.com 907-277-1541.

Sales, service, parts, rental and lease equipment, including Case, Trail King, Elgin, Vactor, Oshkosh, Etnyre, Monroe, Trackless, and Snow Dragon.

Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Wasilla locations. A subsidiary of Calista Corp.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

1945/1945 | 45/45

Need a Lift Truck fast? LP, Electric 100’s in West Coast Stock Warehouse

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Cheaper than studwall TEARDROP construction PALLET RACKS • Break Rooms • Admin.

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Full Power Electric Stacker Lifts In Stock West Coast

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Crane builders, crane design, new crane sales, new hoist sales. Material handling solutions for industry, hoists, jib cranes, work stations, chain falls, lever hoists, crane upgrades, crane maintenance, crane inspections.

1975/2008 | 35/8

IN PLANT OFFICES

• TWO STORY OFFICES • LABS & KITCHENS • LUNCH ROOMS • MAINTENANCE ROOMS • SECURITY & STORAGE ROOMS

WASHINGTON CRANE & HOIST MIKE CURRIE, PRES. 940 Orca St. Anchorage, AK 99501 washingtoncrane.com sdick@washingtoncrane.com 907-336-6661.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

PUGET SOUND PIPE & SUPPLY CO. SCOTT ENGLISH, AK DIV. MGR. 2120 Spar Ave. Anchorage, AK 99501 pugetpipe.com senglish@pspipe.com 907-277-7473.

Visit Our Website: www.materialflow.com

Satellite phone sales and rentals, auto-desk software, surveying instruments, sales, rentals, and service.

Year Founded/Est. in Alaska | Worldwide/Alaska Employees

PARAMOUNT SUPPLY COMPANY JAY GOOLD, BRANCH MGR. 7928 King St. Anchorage, AK 99518 paramountsupply.com jaygoold@paramountsupply.com 907-349-0280

Toll Free 877-868-3569 Phone 907-868-4725 Fax 907-868-4726

satellitephonesak.com satphoneinfo@tse-ak.com 907-561-6501.

Alaska Business

August 2020 | 61

INDUSTRIAL SUPPORT SERVICES

ESI ALASKA NICK FERREE, VP 1919 Van Horn Rd. Fairbanks, AK 99701 esialaska.com FAI-Sales@esialaska.com 907-458-9049

CONSTRUCTION

Thinking outside the box with modular building

By Isaac Stone Simonelli 62 | August 2020

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

I

n a state infamous for long, brutal winters and a short building season, it’s the fortunate construction teams who are able to keep busy yearround. From residential projects in Anchorage to remote camps on the North Slope, companies that create modular buildings are some of the fortunate few with the ability to keep at it rain or shine.

“It’s very common for us to be busy building in February; when others lay off all their staff, we’re just kind of plodding along,” Summit Logistics President Michael Repasky says.

Summit Logistics, based out of Fairbanks, has been involved with modular construction since the company was founded in 1982. The business mostly focuses on commercial and industrial spaces rather than retail or residential buildings.

“Have we built modular clinics? Yes. Do we build them every year? No. Have we built modular homes? Yes. Do we build them every year? No. We build office trailers year in and year out. We build modular bathrooms/Envirovacs year in and year out. And then we get

a bunch of weird stuff,” Repasky says.

“If you can come up with it, we've got engineers on site that will design it and build it.”

Widespread Demand Summit Logistics’ bread and butter is its fleet of office trailers. The primary clients for these modular office spaces are construction and resource extraction industries, such as mining and oil and gas.

“They're out working remotely, and they need office space for eight or ten people. And that's why we have a fleet of about sixty modular office trailers that we rent out and sell,” Repasky says.

“It’s about an average year, so we’ll have about five or six of them left in the yard at the end of the season.”

The demand for these specific modular buildings isn’t only coming from the resource extraction and construction industries in the state.

The Fairbanks Fire Department, because of COVID-19, needed additional office space to provide ample social distancing. The solution was to place office trailers outside the

“It’s very common for us to be busy building in February; when others lay off all their staff, we’re just kind of plodding along.”

Michael Repasky, President, Summit Logistics

fire station to give them the extra space they needed, Repasky explains.

“The Smoke Jumpers track and put out fires. They need a mobile operational station each year,” Repasky says. “So they typically rent one or two—if not more—trailers from us each year. They only rent it for three months during fire season, but it’s a needed

The Leading Provider of remote camps on Alaska’s North Slope Rapid Camp Deployment & Setup Large Remote Camp Inventory Variable camp sizes; one & two story Turn-key Camp Operator Ranked #1 in Customer Satisfaction Home-Style Amenities Gourmet Quality Food Service Executive Suites to Single & Double-Status Rooms Guest-Centered Services National Safety Council Perfect Record Award Recipient Flexible Schedule & Rates Manufacture & Build-To-Suit

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Alaska Business

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August 2020 | 63

Summit Logistics fabricated this urinal tree for Chicken Stock, a music festival.

Summit Logistics

service that we provide and modular construction works great for it.”

Though the trailers are usually single unit modular facilities, the method behind modular construction is creating prefabricated “boxes” or modules that can be joined/connected onsite to create larger buildings or function as stand-alone facilities.

Because the construction process takes place inside a shop, away from the elements, teams can continue to work year-round.

“In Alaska, with the environment and temperatures being what they are, I'm actually quite surprised that home builders have not converted over to a more modular approach,” Repasky says, before noting that Builders Choice Modular is the largest exception to that idea.

He points out that in the Lower 48, as well as Canada, there are slews of modular building manufacturers focused on residential construction.

“Modular is often more costeffective to build because tradespeople don’t have to carry their tools to the worksite. You're building in a controlled environment inside of a 64 | August 2020

building. Materials don't get wet. Safety and productivity are increased while practically eliminating travel time to and from the site. You don't have to worry about people coming to your construction site and deciding they like your materials better than you do,” Repasky says.

Repasky explains that the benefits are widely recognized in many parts of the United States. This is especially true in the Northeast where companies can quickly build well-engineered “boxes” that can then be adapted to a client’s needs by adding internal walls wherever necessary because the walls aren’t loadbearing.

“You can actually order a modular home from Canada and have it delivered to Fairbanks,” Repasky says.

Barriers to Entry One of the biggest hurdles to entering the modular construction business in Alaska are the start-up costs associated with getting a manufacturing facility up and running, Repasky says.

Summit Logistics runs a relatively small shop of about 10,000 square feet and got its footing buying

workman camps after construction on the Trans Alaska Pipeline System was completed.

Unlike those first years, where the company mostly sold camps off in bits and pieces, Summit Logistics now has a dialed-in process for manufacturing modular buildings, Repasky explains.

The process usually starts with a prospective customer reaching out and explaining what their need is.

“That's the first step of the process,” Repasky says. “And, usually, there's a little back and forth because the customer says, ‘I want these fancy dry-erase boards. I want eight inches of spray foam in the walls, and I want four inches of rigid foam on the outside wall,’” he continues. “And we come back and tell them, ‘Okay, yeah, we can totally do all that and this is what the price is. They fall off their chair, they climb back in, and then they're like okay well how can I get this number down.”

Once a deal is struck, the building specifications are sent to Alaskastamped professional engineers for approval, though Repasky says that modular construction isn’t breaking new ground.

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

“Modular buildings are actually typically stronger than the traditionally framed ones, largely because there's a lot more engineering, technical considerations, and hardware. The building has to be able to support itself going 60 miles an hour down the freeway.”

Michael Repasky, President, Summit Logistics

Summit Logistics manufactured this blast-proof bathroom made of stainless steel for use in the oil field.

Summit Logistics

“These are all well-known, wellestablished structural requirements, so it's not rocket science,” Repasky says. “It's plug and chug for any recent graduate engineer. But we do all the necessary calculations and get all the drawings in order.”

Once approved by the client, the project moves to the shop floor and construction begins.

Because most of Summit Logistics’ projects are in the commercial sector, the team begins with a steel skid and frame to keep the building from being damaged when it’s transported.

“Once the skids are in place and level, we will frame the walls, frame up the floor. We typically use fiberglass insulation just because it's more costeffective, but when customers require, we do have high-density polyurethane spray foam capability in-house—it’s whatever people want,” Repasky says.

Unlike larger operations, which can easily turn out a box a day, it takes Summit Logistics’ team a week or two to build a unit depending upon what else is going on in the shop.

Though capable of beating Alaska’s harsh elements and delivering economical solutions for a variety of industries, there are challenges to modular construction in the 49th State.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, one of the biggest financial barriers is transportation. If it’s on the road system in Alaska, modular buildings are extremely competitive with traditional www.akbizmag.com

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Much of Summit Logistics' output is providing modular office spaces; these are located in Antarctica.

Summit Logistics

building methods in terms of pricing.

However, they get expensive when it’s necessary to transport them to remote destinations.

“Shipping a modular building is going to be in the neighborhood of $200 to $300 an hour. If you’ve got a 14-footwide building that needs a pilot car, it’s going to be more in the $300 to $350 [range],” Repasky says.

“A lot of the challenge with modular is you've got to make sure you have the ability to drop the building where you want it. If you have a real tight lot, well, now you’re going to need a crane and that could be as much as $10,000 a day.”

When comparing modular to more traditional construction methods, it comes down to the site, to the availability of materials, and the availability of labor, Repasky explains.

He says in rural villages—which at times don’t have the skilled labor necessary to build onsite—even once a modular building makes the trip via barge, there won’t necessarily be the equipment needed to move it from the barge to the final destination.

Of course, it’s always possible to load a building up in a Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft.

66 | August 2020

“We've got buildings that were designed to fit inside a Hercules. They roll them into the airplane, fly where they need to go, and then they unload them,” Repasky says.

However, even without access to a Hercules aircraft, it’s possible to get modular homes to remote locations.

“We built a modular home for a gentleman in Barrow, and that one need to be dragged across the tundra for about 50 miles, so that one had pretty good skid under it,” Repasky says.

The modular nature of such structures means they can be disassembled and moved to other locations, which is important for industries working in remote areas that will need to shift their base of operation every few years, Repasky notes.

Alternative Applications Though modular office spaces make up the vast amount of work at Summit Logistics, the company keeps its team engaged with some off-beat projects, from modules destined for the Antarctic to a blast-proof bathroom.

Those who’ve used a urinal at Chicken Stock, the state’s premier music festival, have taken advantage of

Summit Logistics’ recent sponsorship of the event.

“We built them a little urinal tree that has six urinals on it and all the urinals were cut out of kegs,” Repasky says.

“So, it’s like a beer recycling center.”

The company sponsored Chicken Stock because Repasky recognized that the event wouldn’t be able to afford even the most basic modular bathroom, which costs tens of thousands of dollars.

Urinal setup in Chicken Stock was far less technical than other modular bathrooms built by Summit Logistics.

For one oil and gas client, they were asked to create a blast-proof bathroom.

“They didn’t give us a lot of details.

They just said that it's going in an explosion area so we needed all steel, and we want nothing in there to burn,” Repasky says.

“In terms of other projects, we built a bird cleaning station for Alyeska a handful of years ago. That was all stainless steel on the inside with a selfcontained water system, as well as all stainless cabinets top and bottom. That was a pretty cool unit.”

And the modular unit destined for Antarctica was office space for researchers, Repasky says.

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“We've got buildings that were designed to fit inside a Hercules.

They roll them into the airplane, fly where they need to go, and then they unload them.”

Michael Repasky, President, Summit Logistics

Exceptions and Considerations The various applications of modular buildings make them an ideal solution to many of the challenges faced by companies and homeowners, but they’re not the right solution for all situations.

And Repasky says modular construction is seen in a negative light, especially within the residential sector, primarily due to the less-sound nature of mobile homes of the ‘80s.

“Structurally they're stronger than a traditional home, but there is definitely a bias. However, modular buildings are actually typically stronger than the traditionally framed ones, largely because there's a lot more engineering, technical considerations, and hardware. The building has to be able to support itself going 60 miles an hour down the freeway,” Repasky says.

He notes that companies in the Lower 48 are overcoming this bias by creating modular homes that don’t look like modular construction.

“Do a quick internet search: you will find modular homes having five or six sections that can be assembled in a day,” Repasky says.

If the commercial sector slows down, Summit Logistics will consider expanding further into the residential sector, Repasky says.

“If it keeps my guys busy, I’m all over it,” Repasky says. “As a business owner, those are the decisions we get to make." www.akbizmag.com

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Alaska Business

August 2020 | 67

T R A N S P O R TAT I O N

The Advantages of Aviation Aerial assets assist resource development projects

By Vanessa Orr

68 | August 2020

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

www.akbizmag.com

ROTAK Helicopter Services

I

n addition to often prohibitive costs, one of the biggest obstacles to natural resource exploration in Alaska is remoteness. There are no roads on which to transport supplies; the nearest body of water might be miles away, making it nearly impossible to barge in equipment. In many cases, planes and helicopters are the only transport options—and even then, there are any number of obstacles standing in the way of a smooth ride in and out of an exploration site.

“If a helicopter company gets a call, it means they can’t use anything else,” says Ely Woods, general manager of ROTAK Helicopter Services, based out of Anchorage. “We can fit into smaller sites and we have vertical takeoff and landing capabilities—airplanes can’t go where helicopters can.”

This season, for example, ROTAK crews are providing air support for Donlin Gold in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region as the company undertakes conceptual drilling for a dam, performs environmental surveys, and expands its mineral exploration.

ROTAK’s helicopters carry drills and other equipment, large toolboxes, fuel, water, and crew to Donlin’s sites, as well as transports core samples back to the company’s field offices from the deposit.

“What we carry depends on the scope of the job,” says Woods.

“Sometimes they need our help to put a drill into position, which will stay onsite a couple of days until they get to the depth they need before we move it again. It depends on what kind of information they’re trying to gather—for example, whether they’re in pursuit of more minerals, or they’re drilling to a certain depth to determine water tables, or they’re studying soil density.”

Anchorage-based Alpha Aviation is also involved in mineral exploration.

“A lot of what we do includes drill rig movements. Depending on what a company is doing—whether in the exploration phase or actively mining— we’ll sling in all the equipment to build a drill pad on the side of a mountain, including logging timber, fuel, a generator, and the drill rig itself,” says Chad Emswiler, director of operations.

“Most of it comes in pieces that we bring in with a 100-foot line.”

Alaska Business

“These moves can happen every couple of days, depending on where they’re drilling and how deep,” he adds.

Because companies need water to keep a drill shaft lubricated, helicopters are also tasked with transporting it to the site. “We can sling thousands of feet of water hose on a big line under the helicopter that is used to pump water up from a creek; we basically unreel it like a garden hose, laying it down the side of the mountain,” says Emswiler. “Because of its weight and the terrain, there’s no way to physically drag it up those steep slopes. If we can’t provide the water line, we have to bring in barrels of water, which is a lot less effective.”

Weighty Decisions As might be expected, the equipment needed to drill through solid rock is heavy and unwieldy. And along with tools, crews need to be transported to and from the site, which is why helicopter companies usually have more than one type of “bird” to make these journeys.

ROTAK Helicopters uses a large K-MAX helicopter with the capacity to carry 6,000 pounds—the largest civil helicopter based in the state. ROTAK’s fleet also includes an AS350 (A-Star) and an MD500, which is used for light crew transport. Alpha Aviation has several A-Stars, which can carry up to 2,500 pounds, as well as Robinson R-44 helicopters.

“We chose airframes that were very sturdy and can work in the Bush for a long time with minimal maintenance,” says Emswiler.

With this type of equipment, there is virtually nothing that can’t be transported to a remote site—though it may take more than one trip.

“We carried an 80,000-pound drill last year for Pebble Mine that had to be built in sections,” says Woods. “This year, we’re moving a number of missionspecific drills of varying weights for Nova Minerals, Taiga Mining Company, and other clients.”

The Best (and Sometimes Only) Option In many cases, using airplanes and helicopters is the most cost-effective way to move equipment and crews to remote sites. It’s also often the only way to get them there.

August 2020 | 69

In addition to supporting mining activities, ROTAK supports the oil and gas industry, including providing aerial support for a recent Hilcorp Energy Company project.

ROTAK Helicopter Services

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“A lot of the jobs that we get involved with weren’t even possible prior to us having a K-MAX here,” says Woods, referring to the massive carrying capacity of the company’s precision heavy-lift helicopter. "It was made for this work; it’s the only machine ever built that is tested and certified for repetitive lifting.

“Companies are also seeing major cost savings—thousands if not millions of dollars—by using us instead of a company from the Lower 48,” adds Woods. “It costs a lot to bring up an aircraft from down south, and that’s even before the cost of transporting materials at the job site.”

For many companies, the price tag and regulations attached to building a remote road are prohibitive.

“It doesn’t make sense when you look at the time and cost of permitting on top of the expense of putting a road in—exploration is designed around finding out if a resource is there for as little money as possible,” says Emswiler. “Once a company knows it’s there, they may push for an overland route to get the material

out in the most cost-effective way by connecting to a road or barge system.”

‘Leapfrogging’ around Alaska With a helicopter going through eighty-five gallons of fuel each hour, it ’s imperative for natural resource exploration companies to make sure everything they need to do the job is as close to the exploration site as possible. To this end, they may hire several companies with dif ferent specialties to make transpor ting crews and equipment more cost- ef fective.

“Oftentimes, a customer has multiple assets under contract or that they can call on an as-needed basis,” says Woods.

“For example, last year, we worked with Lynden Air Cargo to get parts out to the Donlin site.”

Exploration companies may use one air carrier to move people in and out of Anchorage and another to deliver large cargo to a nearby airstrip. Or they might use one company just for fuel and another for other helicopter services.

“They need access to all of these aerial assets, because not one

company does it all,” says Woods.

“It’s important to have these specialty niche markets, especially with such a short season.”

Depending on where a company is located, it may be able to use public airports or private airstrips to stage some of its equipment. For example, exploration on the North Slope might use the Deadhorse Airport, which is owned and operated by the State of Alaska, or the Kuparuk or Alpine air strips, operated by ConocoPhillips Alaska.

“Because fueling is always the biggest factor, we try to plan in as many small airstrips as we can,” says Woods. “In interior or coastal areas, we may use village or remote airstrips to land and refuel, and we need to make those arrangements ahead of time, including contracting another company to have fuel there for us.

“If we’re only going to be onsite for a week, it’s not worth setting up a fullscale fuel system, so we may try to ship larger fuel bladders out by airplane and then carry them by helicopter closer to the project,” he adds.

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Alaska Business

August 2020 | 71

Helicopters can be used to transport heavy equipment with a 100-foot sling. In many cases, the equipment is transported in sections and assembled on site.

ROTAK Helicopter Services

72 | August 2020

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According to Emswiler, a helicopter can travel approximately 300 miles on one tank of fuel. “So if we can’t get fuel at villages or barge it in, we create caches at remote locations,” he says.

“This way we can leapfrog our way across the state to remote areas.”

Even accounting for fuel, there are always unexpected issues that can hinder a project.

“One of the design factors of the K-MAX is that it has only one seat, so transporting our technicians or internal cargo is not always an option,” explains Woods. “Then you’re looking at using other aerial assets to complement the K-MAX when the project is not on a road system. It can be a logistical challenge.”

Being in Alaska, weather is always a concern, and then there’s the short exploration season. Darkness and frozen ground prevent most exploratory work. As a result, companies have to schedule wisely, often switching between a number of jobs to get as much done as possible.

“Some projects are small, so we just bring in equipment, haul some stuff out, and don’t hear from them until they call us downstream when they need more equipment,” says Woods. “Other projects rely heavily on helicopters because there’s no other way to do the work.

“For example, Donlin needs to put a pipeline in and that requires a lot of helicopter time,” he adds. “But once a site has a power plant built, it doesn’t need helicopters in the same way.

Work rolls back as projects become more established.”

“Once a mine has gone into production mode, they don’t use aviation assets the same way,” adds Emswiler. “We may be called on an emergency basis to transport crews or to help with maintenance on a radio repeater on a mountain, but we’re not as crucial for a full-scale operational mine.”

ROTAK works with clients to plan or pre-stage projects based on the aircraft available.

“This helps us avoid complications and ensures that we’ll have coverage for multiple projects,” says Woods.

“We need to maximize asset usage; we can’t have helicopters parked or standing by. We try to squeeze as www.akbizmag.com

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Alaska Business

August 2020 | 73

A helicopter delivers equipment for workers to assemble onsite.

ROTAK Helicopter Services

74 | August 2020

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much work as we can in the season, which sometimes means working multiple projects at the same time; there are a lot of logistics involved.”

This is especially tough when, as is often the case, projects don’t have hard start and finish dates. Shorter jobs may last a couple of weeks, though most larger exploration projects run three months or more. If conditions permit, some can even run yearround, though work tends to scale down greatly in winter.

Safety First Working in such remote and wild areas can be dangerous, meaning safety must be a top priority.

ROTAK, which has one of the highest safety ratings in the state, conducts regular risk assessments in advance of starting projects.

“We make sure that we are already familiar with the site through an internal company safety checklist— we study the coordinates, images, and customer requests to know exactly where we’ll be retrieving and placing external loads, including a defined landing area,” Woods says, adding they also take a pre-job walk onsite to identify hazards.

The company also provides advance training to mining crews, including in the hangar to learn about the aircraft and how the hooks and lines operate to protect those working under the helicopter.

“We hire highly experienced pilots and have a very robust safety management system in place,” says Emswiler of Alpha Aviation, which has a perfect safety record with no accidents. “In addition to FAA standards, we also conduct annual trainings and require check rides throughout the year. Safety is built into our company culture.”

While every day is interesting, working in remote sites with companies looking for the next big strike can also be exciting.

“Each type of mineral they’re going after—whether gold, copper, or graphite—requires a whole different set of tools and each brings its own challenges,” says Woods. “And some of these places are really complicated to get into.” www.akbizmag.com

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OIL & GAS

Keeping It Cool Fire suppression systems protect oil and gas operations from going up in flames

By Isaac Stone Simonelli

G

iven the combustible composition of the materials extracted and processed in Alaska’s oil and gas industry, robust fire prevention and mitigation systems that go beyond state and federal code are the rule rather than the exception.

“In the oil and gas industry, you have a lot more hazards or potential hazards that are present because of the nature of the processes that are being performed than a typical commercial setting,” explains Richard Harvey, a fire protection engineer with Coffman Engineers.

“If an owner/operator has a facility that they want to operate at low risk, they will implement a lot more protection requirements to help protect their asset and reduce the risk to that asset.”

Harvey points out that most state and federal codes were written with the objective of protecting the public rather than business assets. Additionally, many of the codes don’t necessarily address all the hazards associated with oil and gas facilities.

“So then you have to start looking at industry guidelines and recommended practices,” Harvey says. “For example, API, the American Petroleum Institution, has a huge volume of recommended practices geared towards oil and gas and chemical processing facilities. The American Association of Chemical Engineers has guidelines for oil and gas and chemical processing facilities.

So, there's a large amount of industry standard recommended practices that are out there that address the unique operations that are carried out at oil and gas facilities.”

Compliance and Collaboration Sean Armstrong, TAPS fire protection specialist for the Division of Fire and Life Safety and liaison to the Division of Oil and Gas Joint Pipeline Office for the State of Alaska, explains that it’s his job to review state regulation compliance during construction of oil and gas facilities.

“I have an excellent working relationship with most all of the fire protection engineers assigned to the oil companies; some contract out, but I see most of the same experts’ plan reviews,” Armstrong says. “This allows the State of 78 | August 2020

“So there's a whole array of codes and standards that are out there that the fire protection engineer needs to pull into the project. The owner/operator and their insurers dictate what requirements, beyond state and local codes, are applied.”

Richard Harvey, Fire Protection Engineer, Coffman Engineers

Alaska and the engineers to have a close alliance on what the codes require and what the State of Alaska allows.”

The final design of a fire prevention and mitigation system is a combination of base-line code requirements and more stringent owner specifications based on risk assessments.

“It's an iterative process. A lot of times the fire protection engineer needs to be included as a team member as the chemical engineers are going through doing their process… so that the whole team understands where the process safety hazards are,” Harvey says. “It's a collaborative effort to identify where these potential hazards are going to be. Not only for the fire and gas side of it but for that process safety side of it as well.”

This is because, as Har vey explains, the oil and gas facility codes are not prescriptive.

“It's all based on the performance and the fire hazards and the gas hazards that will be present, or may be present, within that operating environment and doing the processes that are necessary to get the product to the final state.”

Insurance companies can also weigh in on the fire prevention and facility design systems, Harvey says.

“For example, one of the clients that I worked for previously in Canada, their facility was insured through FM Global. FM Global has a series of codes and standards that [you] need to be compliant with if you're implementing a project in that type of environment. So there's a whole array of codes and standards that are out there that the fire protection engineer

needs to pull into the project. The owner/operator and their insurers dictate what requirements, beyond state and local codes, are applied.”

Tradeoffs and Alternatives Christine Ness, a fire protection engineer with PDC Engineers, points out that in her position, she wears several different hats. A licensed fire protection engineer is trained to assess each facility, the potential life and safety hazards, as well as available passive and active safety resources. From that assessment, tradeoffs can be made between architectural design, egress paths, fire detection, emergency notification, and suppression required.

“The trick is having your detection and suppression systems properly designed and regularly maintained. Then, regardless of how remote the site is, it should still provide immediate control and containment,” Ness explains. “Due to [the recent] emergency shutdown and quarantine, sites have been unoccupied without contingency plans.

Weekly, monthly, and annual preventive maintenance might be ignored or delayed due to unavailable staff and tightened budgets. It is my hope that life and safety systems and supporting infrastructure are not neglected.

“You have to look at it from an architectural point of view, asking yourself how big is my space, of what is it built, what will the structure do in fire and seismic events, that sort of thing,” Ness says, explaining that emergency exit plans should be designed into a building so that occupants are moving from higher-risk rooms to lower risk

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

areas as they exit a structure.

The goal of a suppression system is to interrupt the chemical reaction of fire— the pyrolysis—by removing oxygen and/ or by removing heat from the reaction, Ness says. But it’s important to fit the suppression system to the expected hazard and area.

For example, foam solution floats on top of water and petroleum products, smothering the fire hazard; water suppression systems work by saturating and removing heat energy from a fire.

And in remote areas with limited clean water, such as on the North Slope, Ness explains that a misting system can be a better solution than a foam or sprinkler system. Foam systems and sprinklers require a lot of water, and because of the larger water release, post-event run-off may impact the surrounding environment.

“For misting systems, you want a particularly small droplet size released in the air to float like a cloud. Those types of systems are much more effective because clouds of mist will float underneath objects, whereas a sprinkler system will just rain down from

above with large saturating drops,” Ness says. “Misting systems are also useful because they do much more cooling and will reduce the chance of re-flash.

“The biggest push I've seen for North Slope facilities is trying to use misting systems instead of sprinklers,” Ness says. “With most facilities, code requires sprinklers. It is up to the FPE [fire protection engineer] of record to figure out if a misting system is going to support the life-safety goals for the facility or [if] are sprinklers required and feasible. The FPE might go on to request a waiver from the fire marshal or similar authority having jurisdiction—defending deviations from the code—based on maintaining the same perceived level of safety as that provided by sprinklers.”

Form Fits Function A typical industry strategy for protecting buildings that are rarely occupied is to use a clean agent system, Harvey of Coffman Engineers says.

Many clean agent systems are designed to prevent explosions by diluting the atmosphere in the building enough to mitigate any gas hazards.

“The trick is having your detection and suppression systems properly designed and regularly maintained. Then, regardless of how remote the site is, it should still provide immediate control and containment.”

Christine Ness, Fire Protection Engineer PDC Engineers

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Alaska Business

August 2020 | 79

“Within the oil and gas industry, a lot of the emergency response is handled by the owner, who will have an emergency response team dedicated to that site. This is a good thing for the operators because their emergency response teams are intimately familiar with their operations and their processes.”

Richard Harvey, Fire Protection Engineer Coffman Engineers

“If you flood a room with nitrogen or other clean agent, you will put out any fire, since you are displacing oxygen. That's the whole point behind clean agent systems. They are gaseous systems that displace oxygen concentration, so your fire cannot sustain,” Ness explains, warning that if the nitrogen or other gas is removed from the reactive environment before the fire is completely under control, hot fuel vapors can reignite.

Harvey points out that on the North Slope processing facilities have to be enclosed in buildings, which increases the fire and gas hazards.

“For example, a lot of the operators in the oil sands area in northern Alberta, Canada, their processing operations take place in outdoor environments.

They're not enclosed in a building,” Harvey says. “The unique thing about 80 | August 2020

Alaska North Slope operations is these processing facilities have to be enclosed because of the environment that they're operating in—the extreme Arctic environments. So a lot of these processing facilities in Alaska have to be enclosed in buildings.

“Because of the enclosed nature of these processing operations, depending on the operation… and the owner requirements, sometimes the fire protection strategy will be to implement a purging or increase the ventilation to try to keep your gas vapors at a level below explosive levels,” he says.

Harvey explains that in certain applications, in control rooms, for example, the strategy is generally to try to maintain a positive pressure within the control room environment to alleviate the potential of a gas vapor being ingested into that control room, where a lot of the equipment is not electrically classified to operate in a hazardous environment.

Keeping Things from ‘Going Boom’ Gas detection systems are usually integrated into a fire alarm system. There are two primary types of gas detectors used in the oil and gas industry, a beamtype system with a transmitter and receiver or spot type.

Harvey says, “There's not a prescriptive code that tells you to put this type of device in this location, this far away from each other or from a wall. It's all based on the performance and the fire hazards or gas hazards that will be present, or may be present, within that operating environment.”

Finding and mitigating the dangers are fundamental to preventing situations from escalating, Ness says.

“Detection and suppression, early on, keeps things from going boom later,” Ness says. “That’s really it: early detection and quick reaction.”

Ness points toward the liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage facility that PDC Engineers designed, currently under construction in North Pole, as an example of a facility created with layers of sensors.

LNG leak and fire detection and suppression must be approached differently than common liquid or solid fuel fire scenarios. Stored LNG is

contained under pressure at ambient temperature. When LNG leaks from a pressurized outdoor tank, it expands, cools, and sinks to the ground. As LNG expands, it is diluted below its flammable concentration. As it further warms to ambient temperature, it becomes more buoyant than ambient ground level air, rises, and disperses into the atmosphere.

“Therefore, to detect LNG leaks around an LNG storage tank, low temperature detectors are placed underneath LNG storage tanks, pipe fittings, and manifolds. Tanks may be surrounded by earthen berms to contain gas heavier than air until it warms and disperses. Leak detection will notify personnel to evacuate, trip gas containment interlocks, and provide any suppression from a safe distance,” Ness adds. “If flaming fire occurs, infrared fire detectors and video flame detection are used for notification and containment, especially around transfer truck loading pads.”

Once a sensor is triggered, the response depends on the company’s own emergency plan. One option is for the triggered alarm to notify someone of the situation to assess and respond to it. Alternatively, the alarm could automatically shut the system down.

Many oil and gas facilities in the Last Frontier are even more isolated than the LNG facility in North Pole, requiring companies to prepare their teams to respond rapidly to a fire hazard.

“Within the oil and gas industry, a lot of the emergency response is handled by the owner, who will have an emergency response team dedicated to that site,” according to Harvey . “This is a good thing for the operators because their emergency response teams are intimately familiar with their operations and their processes. They know their fire protection systems very well. They know where they need to go to get what they need to get to deal with an emergency event.”

Armstrong points out that because the oil and gas industry is spread out throughout the state it’s impossible to have dedicated fire departments for every single facility.

“Therefore the ones that do not have a fire service have a MOA with a local fire department or response department to assist in the event of a fire,” Armstrong

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says. “For example, Alyeska Pipeline Service Company in Valdez has a fire station on site at the VMT [Valdez Marine Terminal]. They are an extremely diversified group of firefighters that are trained in firefighting, emergency medical care, high- and low-angle rescues, as well as the challenges of oil and gas dangers. But areas like the Glennallen Response Base in Glennallen do not have an assigned fire service, so they would require assistance from the city responders.”

Designing Mitigation Making sure response teams can quickly mitigate an incident at an oil and gas facility starts with the initial building design.

“For example, we, as fire protection engineers, determine that the installation of a new heater to heat process fluids requires a fire water monitor or a hydrant to be within a specific distance of that equipment in order for the emergency first responders to have a fire water source to contain and control a fire on that furnace or that heater; that

“If you flood a room with nitrogen or other clean agent, you will put out any fire, since you are displacing oxygen. That's the whole point behind clean agent systems.”

Christine Ness, Fire Protection Engineer, PDC Engineers

fire protection engineer will identify the location of the hydrant,” Harvey says. “The mechanical engineers’ responsibility, typically, is to then get a pipe put into the plans where a fire hydrant monitor can be installed.”

There are architectural elements of a facility that play a role in fire prevention and safety as well, such as placing the fire prevention system in a contained and secured space.

“You don't want to have somebody wandering along saying, ‘Hey, I'm going to park my truck right next to this or run into this tank with a truck,’” Ness says.

Fences, bollards, and berms are all

design elements integrated into a fire prevention plan to prevent un-notified or unsafe activity from happening to reduce fire risks.

“Ideally, if you have well-implemented, well-designed fire and gas detection and prevention systems—and they're integrated with the process safety system—you are able to ensure that you isolate the source, in theory. In doing so, you’ve eliminated an event that risks the asset,” Harvey says. “You go in and you repair the problem condition and then you turn the system back to normal operating and you can go back to business.”

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INSIDE ALASKA BUSINESS RavnAir Group Los Angeles–based FLOAT Shuttle plans to purchase RavnAir Alaska and PenAir out of bankruptcy. RavnAir Group received approval for the sale of all twelve lots of assets at its final Bankruptcy Court hearing—including the two Anchorage-based Part 121 passenger air carriers.

“We are extremely excited about today’s outcome,” says Dave Pflieger, Ravn’s president and CEO. “While it is truly unfortunate that we can’t restart our RavnAir Connect Part 135 airline, we are hopeful that the Alaska-based buyers of those assets will hire many of our former employees; and we are thrilled to hear that the FLOAT shuttle team intends to rehire as many of our remaining employees as possible and quickly resume flights to the many vital communities Ravn serves throughout our great state.”

RavnAir announced plans to file for bankruptcy after seeing a 90 percent drop in bookings and revenue due to COVID-19. flyravn.com

Chugach | ML&P The Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) has conditionally approved the acquisition of Municipal Light & Power (ML&P) by Chugach Electric Association. The 152-page order was issued in late May. In April of 2018, Anchorage voters approved the sale of ML&P to Chugach by more than 65 percent. Following the vote, Chugach filed for approval of the transaction on April 1, 2019. After several weeks of hearings that started in August, the parties reached a settlement that included a purchase price of nearly $973 million. Assuming the

RCA’s conditions are acceptable, the Municipality of Anchorage and Chugach will move forward with the transaction, with a closing date later this year. The combination of the two utilities is expected to lead to lower long-term rates for all utility ratepayers with an estimated ratepayer savings of more than $200 million over the next fifteen years. chugachelectric.com

BSNC | Northwest Contracting Bering Straits Native Corporation (BSNC) has acquired Northwest Contracting, an Alaska-based industry leader in pavement marking and grooving. Northwest Contracting was founded in 2008 by co-owners Charlie McAllen and Chris Hubble.

“BSNC has carefully evaluated the opportunities this acquisition offers. Northwest Contracting will complement the growing Bering Straits portfolio of companies,” says BSNC President and CEO Gail Schubert. “We are pleased to announce that Charlie McAllen and Chris Hubble will stay with the company and continue to manage day-to-day business activities.”

Northwest Contracting offers BSNC an opportunity to expand into a new market, grow the company through Small Business Administration certification, and extend its geographical reach. beringstraits.com

Alaska Airlines Alaska Airlines garnered nearly $1.2 billion in private loans to help secure its financial stability and future

during the COVID-19 pandemic, while still balancing the appropriate amount of liquidity. As part of an Enhanced Equipment Trust Certificate offering, Alaska will use sixty-one of its owned aircraft as collateral to back the debt: twentysix Boeing 737-800s, sixteen Boeing 737-900ERs, and nineteen Embraer 175s. The aircraft will remain encumbered until the debt is repaid: Series A ($966 million) will be repaid

by August 15, 2027 and Series B ($208 million) will be repaid by August 15, 2025. alaskaair.com

Brown Jug | Afognak Afognak Native Corporation purchased Brown Jug—most recently owned by Alcanna Inc., a Canadian company based out of Edmonton, Alberta. “Brown Jug was born and raised in Alaska and remains one of the state’s most well-known brands,” says Greg Hambright, president and CEO of Afognak. “The company has built and maintained a solid reputation by providing quality customer service, great selection, and competitive prices while also leading the industry in responsible retail and ensuring social responsibility and community involvement and engagement.” Brown Jug operates one warehouse and twenty-one stores in Anchorage, Eagle River, Wasilla, and Fairbanks. It is also Alaska’s first and largest retailer of wines, spirits, and beer. Brown Jug employs roughly 220 Alaskans and generates more than $80 million in annual revenue. brownjugalaska.net | afognak.com

ECONOMIC INDIC ATOR S ANS Crude Oil Production  428,658 barrels  12% change from previous month

ANS West Coast Crude Oil Prices  $43.09 per barrel  9.6% change from previous month

Statewide Employment  333,087 Labor Force  12.6% Unemployment

6/30/2020 Source: Alaska Department of Natural Resources

6/30/20 Source: Alaska Department of Natural Resources

5/1/20. Adjusted seasonally.

Source: Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development

82 | August 2020

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

RIGHT MOVES Alaska Public Media  Anne Garrett has accepted an offer to lead Special Development Campaigns for Alaska Public Media.

Garrett was previously the Garrett philanthropy advisor at The Alaska Community Foundation and comes to AKPM with more than twenty years of experience in the nonprofit sector. Garrett is one of just thirty-nine people in the state to earn her Certified Fundraising Executive certification.

Alaska Communications  Alaska Communications named Debra Morse as Vice President of Human Resources. Morse previously served as legal counsel for Morse Alaska Communications, most recently as vice president of legal.

Morse provided her leadership as an inaugural member of Alaska Communications’ Women in Leadership Empowerment and Diversity program. She currently serves on the Citizens Advisory Council for Providence Alaska Medical Center.

Alpine Air Alaska  Alpine Air Alaska promoted Sasha Swift to General Manager. Along with other members of the executive team, Swift is responsible for managing a fleet of fourteen helicopters Swift and four locations in Southcentral. Swift began her aviation

career in 2005 with the US Air Force as an air traffic controller for fourteen airports.

After years in diverse roles with finance companies and technology start-ups, Swift joined Alpine Air Alaska in 2015 as director of marketing.

Gonzalez Marketing  Jennifer Thomasson has been selected as the newest Partner at Gonzalez Marketing. Thomasson started as a part-time Thomasson marketing assistant in 2002 while attending college and was the company’s first employee. Over the years, Thomasson worked her way up to her most recent role as vice president of client services. In this role, Thomasson leads all projects and manages all client services.

In her role as partner, she will take on additional duties including new service development, staff training, corporate direction, and day-to-day management.

Donlin Gold  Donlin Gold promoted Dan Graham to General Manager.

As general manager, Graham is responsible for progressing the project, working closely Graham with the Calista Corporation, The Kuskokwim Corporation, Barrick Gold Corporation, and NOVAGOLD. Graham earned a degree in mining engineering from UAF in the ‘80s. He began his career as an equipment operator and worked his way up through the ranks over the past thirty-six years. Graham has been a registered Alaska Professional Mining

Engineer since 1994 and has led Donlin Gold’s permitting and environmental activities for the past three years, bringing the National Environmental Policy Act process successfully to a close and receiving numerous major permits from state and federal agencies.

R&M Consultants  Eli Ward has joined R&M as Staff Engineer in the firm’s construction services department. In this role, Ward is responsible Ward for supporting ongoing construction administration projects throughout Alaska. Ward also oversees day-to-day construction operations, including serving as the owner’s onsite representative, corresponding with construction contractors, issuing change orders and directives, processing pay estimates, performing field engineering, and managing R&M field staff. Ward has four years of experience in geotechnical engineering, materials inspection, and construction services. He began his career working for the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities supporting horizontal construction projects and geotechnical investigations for highway and airport projects. He also spent eighteen months with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources in the Alaska Dam Safety Program and moved into the private sector last year, where he completed geotechnical investigations and analysis in support of a variety of projects.

Ward has a bachelor’s in geological sciences from UAF.

RIGHT MOVES IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY NORTHERN AIR CARGO

84 | August 2020

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

US Coast Guard  Lieutenant Brian Williams relieved Lieutenant Anna Ruth as Commanding Officer of US Coast Guard Cutter Bailey Barco. Williams returns to Ketchikan after serving as International Training Team lead in Baltimore, where he oversaw the transfer of six former US Coast Guard cutters to international partner nations. The Bailey Barco crew’s missions include port, waterways, and coastal security, as well as fishery patrols, search and rescue, and national defense.

Great Alaskan Holidays  Great Alaskan Holidays appointed two new key RV technicians. James Pacaldo and Tim Proctor join the Great Alaskan Holidays team as Apprentice Technicians.

Pacaldo and Proctor have entered Great Alaskan Pacaldo Holidays’ in-house training program. The Great Alaskan Holidays in-house program is specifically designed to promote from within and retain talented individuals as Proctor long-term, valued employees.

Pacaldo was a student prior to joining Great Alaskan Holidays. Proctor worked for Inlet Energy as a truck driver. Both men are lifelong Alaskans.

SBA Alaska  The US Small Business Administration (SBA) Alaska District Office made several changes to its local leadership. John D. Veal Jr. is the new acting District Director and Jeff Salzer is the new Deputy District Director for the SBA Alaska District.

A permanent district director will be announced later this summer.

Prior to coming to Anchorage to serve

www.akbizmag.com

in the role of acting District Director, Veal served as the deputy district director for the SBA Oklahoma District.

Veal is also a graduate of Veal the 2018 Excellence in Government Fellows program. Veal holds both a master of business administration and a master of science in accounting from Oklahoma City University, is a Certified Professional Public Buyer from the Universal Public Procurement Certification Council, and holds Level I Contracting Certification from the Federal Acquisition Institute.

Salzer comes to the SBA Alaska District from the SBA Arkansas District where he served as senior area manager for several years. Prior to that, he was a business opportunity specialist and then economic development specialist in the SBA Oklahoma District. Before coming to the SBA, Salzer owned and operated an international consulting firm for small- to medium-size enterprises. He holds a bachelor’s in political science with a minor in international business from St. Bonaventure University. He also has a master of business administration from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

R&M Consultants  John Daley assumed the Group Manager role of Waterfront Engineering following Kim Nielsen’s retirement. Daley joined R&M Daley in 2013 as a senior project engineer and has more than twenty-seven years of experience in waterfront and coastal engineering design, construction, and inspection. Daley holds both a bachelor’s and master’s in civil engineering

Alaska Business

from UAA, as well as an associate’s in diving technology from Highline Community College. He is a professional civil and structural engineer registered in Alaska; a NACE Corrosion Technologist; and certified in Safety Inspection of InService Bridges and Confined Space Entry.  Tim Grier has taken on the role of Vice President of Engineering. Grier has been with R&M for thirteen years, formerly serving as Grier group manager of surface transportation. He has thirty years of civil engineering experience and is well versed in the planning, design, and construction of road, water, sewer, and solid waste facilities, as well as general civil site design.

In his new role, Grier is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of R&M’s engineering department. He holds a bachelor’s in civil engineering and is a professional civil engineer registered in Alaska.  R&M promoted Lance Debernardi to Group Manager of Surface Transportation. Debernardi has been a senior project Debernardi engineer in R&M’s Surface Transportation Group for the past twelve years. He has twenty-nine years of experience as a project manager and senior highway design engineer, which includes roadway geometrics, drainage, roadside safety, construction traffic control, and intersection signalization.

Debernardi has managed major roadway projects, including the Fairview loop road rehabilitation, Eklutna river bridge replacement, Sterling Highway MP 45-60, and Dalton Highway MP 11-18 reconstruction. He holds a bachelor’s in civil engineering from the University of Utah and is a professional civil engineer registered in Alaska.

August 2020 | 85

ALASKA TRENDS Alaska’s University system aspires to have one of the most diverse student bodies in the nation. To match its wide variety of degrees and programs spread between three separately accredited universities spanning nineteen campuses, UAA initiated a process to create a diversity and inclusion action plan in 2016. With many of its campuses located on the

Sitka

traditional homelands of Alaska Native peoples, the UA system is home to a large demographic of American Indian and Alaska Native students. Below is a snapshot of UA’s student population by campus, as well as a brief overview of the university system’s path to becoming the state’s premier educational institution.

50%

The median age of a University of Alaska student is 25.

Ketchikan Juneau Rural College

Diversity of the University of Alaska by Campus

Kuskokwim Interior Alaska Chukchi

Alaska Native/ American Indian

CRCD Bristol Bay

Hawaiian Native/ Pacific Islander

UAF CTC

Asian

Fairbanks

Black White Unknown

51% are over the age of 25.

Northwest

Kuskokwim

527 international students attended the University of Alaska in 2018.

PWSC Mat-Su Kodiak

Over 50% are enrolled in Anchorage.

Kenai Anchorage

Alaska 23,452 Out-of-State 2,662 International 527

1954 Ketchikan Community College is established.

The Evolution of the University of Alaska

1917 Alaska Agricultural College established in Fairbanks.

1935 Alaska Agricultural College becomes University of Alaska.

1950 Anchorage Community College is established on Fort Richardson.

1959 Alaska joins the union.

86 | August 2020

1958 Palmer Community College is established.

1960 The city of Kenai is incorporated.

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

UA Campuses by Headcount ANCHORAGE 13,158 FAIRBANKS 5,317 KENAI 2,476 UAF CTC 2,419 JUNEAU 1,642 MAT-SU 1,559 PWSC (VALDEZ) 895 RURAL COLLEGE 850 SITKA 784 KODIAK 721 KETCHIKAN 654 KUSKOKWIM 502 BRISTOL BAY 411 NORTHWEST (NOME) 283 CHUKCHI 203 INTERIOR ALASKA 384

The Fairbanks campus has the largest physical footprint with 160 buildings, followed by Anchorage (65), and then Juneau (29).

The smallest campus is Sitka (1).

Note: Headcount is unduplicated at the reporting level. Figures count students who audit for-credit courses and exclude students taking only one or more non-credit courses.

Sources: www.alaska.edu/ir/reporting/UAR 202020_Enrollment_07 2010 2020.pdf and www.alaska.edu/ir/reporting/UAR 202020_Facilities_07 2010 2020.pdf

1962 Anchorage Community College becomes part of the University of Alaska.

Sitka Community College is established.

1963 Palmer Community College becomes Mat-Su Community College.

1968 Kodiak Community College is established.

1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act is signed into law. www.akbizmag.com

1969 Kenai Community College is established.

1971 ACC and the Anchorage Senior College are combined to create the orginal University of Alaska Anchorage.

1975 University of Alaska programs based in Fairbanks spin off to become the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

1977 The Trans Alaska Pipeline System is completed.

1987 UAA is merged with the Kenai Peninsula College, Kodiak Community College, and Mat-Su Community College creating the expanded University of Alaska Anchorage.

University of Alaska Juneau, Ketchikan Community College, and Islands Community College (Sitka) are restructured creating the University of Alaska Southeast.

1980 First Permanent Fund Dividend legislation enacted.

Alaska Business

August 2020 | 87

AT A GLANCE What book is currently on your nightstand?

Monday Morning Leadership: 8 Mentoring Sessions You Can’t Afford to Miss by David Cottrell.

What movie do you recommend to everyone you know?

I’m a big Braveheart fan; it’s really about heroism and taking on challenges, kind of what we do in construction [he laughs].

What’s the first thing you do when you get home after a long day at work?

If it’s a weekend, we try to get to our lake place in Willow; but we’ve got dogs [black lab Joey and chocolate lab Kya] at home, so normally we try to get the dogs out and run them around.

If you couldn’t live in Alaska, what’s your dream locale?

That’s hard to say because I don’t think there’s any better place in the world than living in Alaska, in my opinion—maybe Hawai’i, on the big island.

Images © Kerry Tasker

If you could domesticate a wild animal, what animal would it be?

That’s a tough question. Maybe a dog, but they’re domesticated enough already.

88 | August 2020

Alaska Business www.akbizmag.com

OFF THE CUFF

Dan Hall D

an Hall is president of Knik Construction, part of the Lynden family of companies. Hall has been with Knik for twenty-five years. “I was hired on as a grunt, and I think I’m still doing the same job today,” he jokes. Hall says he enjoys working in the construction industry: “Every day is a new challenge… it's fun working through the challenges that roll in the office. And the people I get to work with and be a part of are a big part of what makes us successful.”

Alaska Business: What do you do in your free time?

Dan Hall: Hanging out with my family; we spend time in Willow and enjoy that. We snowmachine and pontoon boat and get outdoors as much as we can—work in the yard.

AB: What’s the most daring thing you’ve ever done?

Hall: Well, anybody's who’s ever seen me drive, they probably want to say something about that [he laughs].

AB: Dead or alive, who would you like to see perform live in concert?

Hall: My goal would be Dave Matthews Band. Never seen him, but I really appreciate his music.

AB: What’s your greatest extravagance?

Hall: I've got a '68 Camaro [gun metal gray] that I've put a bunch of time and energy in and built from the groundup with some of my peers. That's my over-the-top thing I probably shouldn't have done, but it's done [he laughs].

AB: What’s your best attribute and worst attribute?

Hall: I think they’re probably both the same: my patience. Sometimes being impatient is good and sometimes it's bad. So it's my inability to control my patience, sometimes.

AB: What’s your go-to comfort food?

Hall: I'm a spaghetti guy. And my wife [Marleanna Hall] would prefer me to make something else, but I have a hard time making something else.

AB: Other than your current career, if you were a kid today, what would your dream job be?

Hall: I'd rather do this than anything—it's a lot of fun.

AB: What’s your favorite way to exercise?

Hall: I think it's really getting outside and working the yard.

I'm not a guy that goes to the gym, and if you've seen my figure you'd see that [he laughs]. But at the same time I like to get out and cut firewood, and cut trees, and split wood. I plow my own snow and that stuff, as well. www.akbizmag.com

Alaska Business

August 2020 | 89

ADVERTISERS INDEX Afognak Leasing LLC....................63 alutiiq.com

Construction Machinery Industrial (CMI)................................................ 2 cmiak.com

Airport Equipment Rentals........... 91 airportequipmentrentals.com

Cook Inlet Tug & Barge Inc.......... 55 cookinlettug.com

Alaska529...................................... 13 Alaska529Plan.com

Craig Taylor Equipment............... 37 craigtaylor equipment

Alaska Mergers & Acquisitions..... 17 fink@alaska.net

Crowley Alaska Inc.......................45 crowley.com

Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC)...................92 anthc.org

Cruz Companies........................... 25 cruzconstruct.com

Alaska School Activities Association (ASAA)........................................... 73 asaa.org

Davis Constructors & Engineers Inc................................ 67 davisconstructors.com

Alyeska Resort.............................. 16 alyeskaresort.com

Delta Constructors....................... 57 deltaconstructors.net

American Heart Association........ 71 heart.org Anchorage Sand & Gravel............ 33 anchsand.com

Denali Universal Service | Sodexo..........................................28 denaliuniversal.com/

Arctos Alaska/ Nortech................24 nortechengr.com

Dorsey & Whitney LLP.................. 81 dorsey.com

AT&T................................................ 7 att.com

Equipment Source Inc (ESI)......... 41 esialaska.com

Central Environmental Inc (CEI).. 23 cei-alaska.com

First National Bank Alaska (FNBA)............................................. 5 fnbalaska.com

Conrad-Houston Insurance Agency.........................22 chialaska.com

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L

A

N

D

A

Fringe Benefits Group.................. 79 thecontractorsplan.com

I

R

E

X

P

R

E

S

S

Private Aircraft Charter P I L A T U S

P C - 1 2

A I R C R A F T

Great Originals Inc.......................22 greatoriginals.com

NRC Alaska / US ecology............. 47 nrcc.com

IBEW Local 1547 ..........................59 alaskaelectricalapprenticeship.org/veep

Pacific Pile & Marine.....................83 pacificpile.com

ICE Services.................................... 3 iceservices.net Island Air Express..........................90 islandairx.com

Parker Smith & Feek....................... 9 psfinc.com Samson Tug & Barge.................... 75 samsontug.com

JAG Alaska Inc. / Seward Shipyard...........................29 JAGAlaska.com

Seatac Marine Service.................. 75 seatacmarine.com

JEFFCO Inc................................... 17 jeffcogrounds.com

Superior Group.............................34 superiorpnh.com

Jim Meinel CPA PC....................... 53 meinelcpa.com

The Nature Conservancy............. 21 nature.org/alaska

Lynden Inc.................................... 31 lynden.com

Tioga Air Heaters & Mobile Air & Power Rentals............................... 41 mobileair.com

Material Flow & Conveyor Systems Inc................................... 61 materialflow.com MT Housing Inc............................65 MTHousing.net MTA...............................................49 mtasolutions.com

Tutka LLC...................................... 35 tutkallc.com UA Local 375 Plumbers & Pipefitters..................................43 ualocal375.org

New Horizons Telecom Inc......... 19 nhtiusa.com

Udelhoven Oilfield Systems & Services.........................................59 udelhoven.com

Northern Air Cargo................ 84, 85 nac.aero

Willscot......................................... 67 willscot.com

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Getting back to your activities?

Get back to your health care!

Missing out on regular activities is a common story across Alaska.

As we begin to put dates back on our calendars, remember to put your health care appointments back in too.

Chronic conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure don’t take a break during a pandemic. Children still need their well-child visits and immunizations to be protected from diseases. Cancer can still spread undetected and heart attacks can still strike.

Your health is important. Specialty clinics managed by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium are prepared to keep our community healthy now and in the future.

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anthc.org/specialtycare

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